Charlottetown, PE – Red Shores Racetrack & Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park and Red Shores Summerside will be holding qualifying sessions to prep for the season openers scheduled for Charlottetown on Saturday April 28th at 6pm while Summerside starts their campaign on Monday May 21, 2018. Post time is 1pm.
Here is the qualifying schedule.
Charlottetown Qualifiers

Saturday April 21st Post Time 1:00pm
Tuesday April 24th Post Time 1:00pm

Summerside Qualifiers

Sunday April 22nd Post Time 1:00pm

Contact the Red Shores race office for more information at 902.629.6634

By Lee Drake

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – The fact that some of harness racing’s greatest horseman have hailed from Prince Edward Island make Marc Campbell’s continued provincial dominance even more impressive as it continued Saturday afternoon at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

The afternoon card was the final program of the winter meet at the capital oval with 11-dashes on tap and the ‘King’ of Island racing making five returns to the winner’s circle. Marc Campbell teamed up with Eagle Jolt out of his own stable to win the $2,300 top class in 1:57.2 for the 55^th win of the pacer’s career. Wilbur and Marie MacDonald of Stratford hold the ownership papers of the 11-year-old son of Village Jolt. The top event saw second place go to Drivingthedragon N (Driven by Jason Hughes) with Keep Coming (Adam Merner) completing the $120 triactor ticket.

Campbell had a pair of other winner’s from his stable as Woodmere Articblue stopped the clock in 1:58.4 and Fern Hill Breeze won the final dash of the season in a lifetime best 1:59.1.

Iswhatitis and Campbell clicked in 2:01.3. for the pacer’s third win in a row for Neal Moase of Warren Grove, while the Kyle Wilkie trained Mach Of Ballykeel was a 2:00.1 victor with Campbell in tow.

After setting a new dash win record for Red Shores Charlottetown in 2017, Campbell again leads the driver’s standings with 14 wins after three cards in 2018.

Newly minted Provincial Finance Minister Heath MacDonald was in attendance for the season ending card, reaffirming the winning partnership between the provincial government and the Island harness racing industry.

Corey MacPherson recorded a driving double on the program. Live racing returns to P.E.I. in April.

By Nicholas Oakes

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – After dominating the preferred pace so far this season driver Marc Campbell will have to find the winner’s circle with a different member of his stable Saturday afternoon at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

The Saturday afternoon program will be the final card of the 2018 winter meet at the capital oval with a 12:30 P.M. post time.

Campbell and Eagle Jolt will team up in race 10 for a $2,300 purse as the morning line choice. The post 3 starter is fresh off a pair of second place finishes in the back-up pace but gets installed as the top choice by classifier Gerard Smith. Owned by Wilbur and Marie MacDonald of Stratford, Eagle Jolt will have some deep competition in the seven horse field including a rival from two weeks ago. Salmonier Storm (Driven by Ambyr Campbell) knocked off the favoured Eagle Jolt on Jan. 14, then moved up a notch to finish second to the Campbell trained Rose Run Quest. With Rose Run Quest absent from competition this week, Eagle Jolt will fill the void for Campbell as he tries to fend off his preferred challengers. Nogreatmischief draws post 6 for owner-trainer-driver Walter Cheverie at 7-2 morning line odds, while the classy Forever Paradise has the outside with Ken Murphy at the controls.

Race analyst Les MacIsaac puts his lukewarm faith in Eagle Jolt as he makes his final start before the winter break.

“Eagle Jolt was a beaten favourite in his last two which doesn’t instill a lot of confidence,” MacIsaac said. “Having said that, don’t lose sight of the fact that he was just beaten in both so he could be the one to knock off today.”

Other entries include Keep Coming (Adam Merner), Tempo Seelster (Kenny Arsenault) and Drivingthedragon N (Jason Hughes).

Race 6 is the George Younker 80^th Birthday Pace for a $1,000 purse. Dusty Lane Zendaya is the morning line choice fresh off an 11-length romp for driver Corey MacPherson. Other top entries include Jinglewriter (Merner) and Anzula (David Dowling).

The broadcast will also feature highlights from the 2017 season including Governor’s Plate and Gold Cup & Saucer.

The live racing season will resume in April with race dates to be announced during the break.

By Nicholas Oakes

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – The winner’s circle camera saw no shortage of Marc Campbell on the Saturday afternoon program at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

The 13-dash card had the ‘King’ of Island of racing record six victories as he continues his 2017 dominance. Campbell captured the top event of the day in the $2,400 preferred pace as Rose Run Quest was a 1:57.3 winner from his own stable for owner Blair Hansen of Charlottetown. Salmonier Storm (driven by Ambyr Campbell) finished nine-and-a-half lengths back in second with Forever Paradise (Ken Murphy) completing the triactor.

Four of Campbell’s wins came from his own stable including Fern Hill Breeze in 1:59.2, Charlottes Western in 2:00.4, and Woodmere Articblue in a 10-length romp 1:58.1. Campbell and trainer Jeff Lilley teamed up to win with Bettim Vicky in 2:02.3, while Iswhatitis remains undefeated in the Neal Moase stable after a 1:59.3 Campbell-driven score.

Euchred was a winner in the $2,000 back-up pace with a 1:58.3 off-the-pace win for trainer-driver Terry Gallant at 10-1 odds. The six-year-old son of Shadow Play is owned by Kayla Habicht Walker of Inverness, N.S.

Jason Hughes had a driving double on the program. Live racing continues on Saturday afternoon.

By Nicholas Oakes

Friday January 12, 2018

Charlottetown, PE – The Harness Racing program scheduled for Saturday at Red Shores Racetrack & Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park will now go on Sunday. Post time is 12:30pm. The decision was made due to weather conditions forecast for PEI on Saturday.

 

Saturday January 6, 2018

The races were cancelled on Saturday due to the extreme cold but the scripts and show prep were already completed. These interview clips with Marc Campbell were scheduled to air Saturday.

Marc Campbell is competing this weekend in the North American Driver’s Championship at Miami Valley Raceway in Southwest Ohio. Lee Drake had a chance to talk to Marc about the event. Here is more of that conversation…..

 

 

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – A field of top drivers will converge on Miami Valley in Ohio this weekend and Red Shores will team up Prince Edward Island’s best to face off with the Continent’s talent.

Marc Campbell will compete in the second annual North America Drivers Championship at Miami Valley Raceway in Lebanon, Ohio, amongst the group of thirty drivers. The competition starts Sunday night (Jan. 7) with each driver having four drives on the Sunday and Monday (Jan. 8) programs. The top 10 from those eliminations will then move on to the championship final on Tuesday (Jan. 9) with Red Shores Charlottetown and Summerside simulcasting all the action.

Campbell is fresh off a career year in the sulky as the 33-year-old Winsloe, P.E.I., resident recorded the most dash wins ever by a driver at Red Shores Charlottetown with 162 trips to the winner’s circle in 2017. The number bested the former record, also held by Campbell, of 144 wins in 2016. Campbell also put together the top dash winning and earning training season in Atlantic Canadian racing history with 131 trainings wins and $376,223, as well as earning the most purse money ever by a driver in the Atlantic Provinces with $584,479 in seasonal earnings. Campbell also led Canada in driving and training averages in 2017 with a .450 UDRS and .526 UTRS, while sitting second in the nation for training wins and sixth for driving wins.

“I was looking at the stats the other day and it is pretty crazy,” Campbell said. “I didn’t set out to break any records, I just wanted to have a good year. I thought with the stable of horses we had we could have a big year. Will it happen again? Probably not, but we’re going to keep trying to make it happen again. I had good horses and support from great owners and support from my family. When you have that the sky is the limit.”

Lee Drake, Red Shores Manager of Marketing, Brands and Playwise, was excited by the opportunity to partner with Campbell and sponsor his journey to Ohio to race against some of harness racing’s best.

“Prince Edward Island has consistently shown it can produce horses and horse people that can compete at the highest levels of harness racing,” Drake said. “Marc has been breaking record after record all season and now he gets to showcase the terrific talent and quality of the product we put on all year at our Red Shores properties. Adam (Adam Walsh, Red Shores Racing Manager) and I both felt it was a great opportunity to put the spotlight on P.E.I. and Atlantic Canadian harness racing. We will all be rooting for him.”

The Miami Valley competition features a deep field of talent including top Woodbine Entertainment Group Drivers Doug McNair, Trevor Henry and Louis Philippe-Roy, defending World Driving Champion and P.E.I. native James MacDonald, U.S. World Driving Championship representative Marcus Miller and reigning North American dash win champion Aaron Merriman.

“If I get beat, I get beat,” Campbell says of his opposition, while noting the horse talent each driver will be given is a deciding factor. “I’ve driven against some of them all ready so we’ll give it a go. The year that we had I just figured why not go. I like meeting people and I figured it would be good exposure for Maritime racing and good for everyone. It’s good experience. I’m at a point in my career that now I feel like I can so I figured I’d do it. I can see the race better than I did before. I see the way things are going to set up and I’m not as one minded as I might have been before. I’m still aggressive but more patiently aggressive.”

Nicknamed the ‘King’ of Island racing, Campbell is quick to credit the depth of his competition on a nightly basis while racing on P.E.I.

“I think a lot of guys that drive here could go other places and fit in anywhere,” Campbell said. “Am I going to win the championship? Probably not but I’m going to try. I just want to show everyone that we can go and drive anywhere.”

The Sunday, Monday and Tuesday programs from Miami Valley will start at 3:05 P.M. Atlantic Standard Time.

By Nicholas Oakes for Red Shores

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – After demolishing record after record in the 2017 racing season Marc Campbell chose not to rest on his laurels winning six races in front of a packed house on the New Year’s Eve card at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

The Winsloe driver started the action off in race 1 winning with Dads Filly in 2:04.3 for Neal Moase of Warren Grove, followed by a race 4 victory with Woodmere Articblue in 2:02.1 from his own stable and another win from his own barn in race 8 with Eagle Jolt in the $2,000 back-up pace in 2:01.1.

Campbell teamed up with Scarlet Safari for a 2:05.2 win for trainer Brent Campbell of Charlottetown in race 9, then another win from his own outfit with Fern Hill Breeze in 2:00.4 in race 10 for the training triple. Driving win number six of the evening came in race 12 as Painted Pony prevailed in 2:01.4 for Raymond White of Murray River.

It would nearly seven wins but a flat tire in Campbell’s final drive of the season in the race 13 $2,400 preferred pace would see Rose Run Quest and the record setting driver settle for second best. Adkins Hanover won the event in 1:59.4 for driver Corey MacPherson, trainer Trevor Hicken and owner Perry Burke of Gross-Ile., Que. Woggy Rocks (Driven by Gary Chappell) finished third in the preferred pace.

The plurality of victories puts Campbell at 162 wins on the year at Red Shores Charlottetown for the new winning standard at the capital oval.

Drivingthedragon N won the $1,800 top pacing mare’s event with a 2:00.4 score for trainer-driver Jason Hughes and owner Donald MacRae of Vernon Bridge. The iron tough Good Luck Kathy (Walter Cheverie) fell short of victory finishing a half-length behind in second in her 50^th start of the season and 31^st top three finish.

Pictonian Storm capped off the year with a victory in the final race of the season for driver Wade Sorrie, trainer Austin Sorrie and owner Walter Simmons of Summerside in a time of 2:02.2.

By Nicholas Oakes

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – A compact field of preferred pacers will compete as part of Boxing Day action at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

First race post time is 12:30 P.M. for the 16-dash card with a field of five facing off in the race 12 preferred pace for a $2,400 purse. Rose Run Quest rides a two-race preferred win streak into the Tuesday afternoon event for trainer-driver Marc Campbell and owner Blair Hansen of Charlottetown. The five-year-old son of If I Can Dream has post 2 in the Boxing Day bout. Czar Seelster is installed at 3-1 morning line odds from post 3 for trainer-driver Todd Weatherbee while Nogreatmischief gets the outside in the short field for trainer-driver Walter Cheverie.

Race analyst Les MacIsaac predicts Rose Run Quest will extend his streak to three wins during preferred action.

“Rose Run Quest is sitting on back to back wins and don’t lose sight of the fact that he had posts not nearly as favorable as the one he has today,” MacIsaac said. “He has a good shot at a threepeat.”

The field is rounded out by Silverinyourpocket (Driven by Jason Hughes) and Woggy Rocks (Gary Chappell).

Race 13 on the card is sponsored as the Boxing Day Pace with Jetta Flys the post 5 favorite for driver Corey MacPherson, trainer and co-owner Stephen Quinn of Stratford and co-owner John Quinn of Charlottetown. Other top entries in the $1,800 event include Narragansett (Hughes) and Cyrax (Dale Spence).

The top trot of the day lines up in race 6 for a $1,600 pot. Holy Molie Maggie is the morning line choice but is saddled with the outside post 8 in the field of as many. Cheverie drives the mare for Jeff Holmes of Orwell while Hop Up leaves from post 3 for driver MacPherson fresh off a 2:00.4 victory.

Also on the program, Stratford native Patrick Shepherd is home for the holidays and has four catch drives on the program. One of the top percentage trains on the Ontario racing circuit, Shepherd will drive in races 6, 8, 15 and 16.

By Nicholas Oakes

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – The dash win record was broken weeks ago but leading driver Marc Campbell was not afraid to continue padding his win total Saturday afternoon at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

Rose Run Quest and trainer-driver Campbell teamed up to win the $2,550 preferred pace on the 16-race afternoon program in 1:57.2 for owner Blair Hansen of Charlottetown. Second place in the top event went to Czar Seelster (Todd Weatherbee) with Adkins Hanover (Corey MacPherson) third.

It was one of three wins on the card for Campbell as he also won with Fern Hill Breeze in 1:59.2 from his own stable, and a maiden breaking score of 2:01.3 with Bettim Vicky for trainer Jeff Lilley. After breaking the previous best of 144 driving wins he set in the 2016 season earlier this month, Campbell now boasts 152 wins on the year at Red Shores Charlottetown.

Drivingthedragon N had a front end score of 1:57.4 in the $2,250 Open Mare’s pace as one of two wins for driver Jason Hughes, who also trains the mare for Donald MacRae of Vernon Bridge. West River Ambyr (Steven Shepherd) finished second with Tell Me Why (MacPherson) completing the $193.70 triactor.

MacPherson has a driving triple with Positive Art in 1:59.1 for trainer Bing Easter of O’Leary, Smiley Bayama in 1:58.4 for trainer Dianne Gass of Cornwall and Hop Up in 2:00.4 for Keith Campbell of Tyne Valley.

Gary Chappell also had two driving wins on the card. Live racing continues at Red Shores Charlottetown with the next program scheduled for Boxing Day (Dec. 26) . Post time is 12:30pm.

By Nicholas Oakes