DOWN THE BACKSTRETCH: Team P.E.I. in place for regional driving ch’ship

Staff P.E.I. has been assembled for the 2022 Atlantic regional driving championship at Pink Shores on the Charlottetown Driving Park on June 11.

The competitors will pit eight of the highest drivers on the East Coast in an eight-race contest. The highest two drivers advance to the nationwide driving championship on Nov. 24 at Century Mile Racetrack in Edmonton, Alta.

The winner of the nationwide driving championship will characterize Canada on the world driving championship in Italy in 2023.

Marc Campbell, a perennial-leading driver at Pink Shores, headlines the Prince Edward Island squad because the Orwell resident will try to construct on his 2,707 profession wins and set one other file because the youngest Island-based driver to hit the three,000-win plateau, a file prone to happen through the 2023 season.

Gilles Barrieau, a local of Dieppe, N.B., can be representing P.E.I. and is near a milestone of his personal – 81 wins away from 5,000 lifetime victories. Constantly the most-sought-after catch-driver within the area for stakes occasions, Barrieau has earned $10.3 million in his four-decade profession.

Stratford’s Jason Hughes is one other member of Staff P.E.I., with 1,727 wins to his credit score together with $3.4 million in purse earnings. Hughes began off his profession in 1993 successful his first race behind Pattern Lady in 2:06.3.

Corey MacPherson will carry the hopes of Cornwall, P.E.I. The winner of 1,251 races and $2.6 million in purses will try to duplicate his displaying from the 2016 Atlantic regional when he and Hughes moved on to the Canadian finals at Western Honest Raceway. Kingston native James MacDonald gained that competitors and would go on to be topped world driving champion the subsequent 12 months in Canada.

Staff Nova Scotia will include main Truro Raceway driver Paul Langille, Inverness Raceway’s high reinsman Redmond Doucet and Mark Pezzarello from Northside Downs.

Pezzarello and driver Ryan Campbell ended up in a tie for many wins at Northside Downs in 2021, however Standardbred Canada guidelines dictate the driving force with essentially the most seasonal purse cash gained will prevail within the tiebreaker, which gave Pezzarello the sting.

New Brunswick has Exhibition Park Raceway’s main driver Todd Trites carrying the hopes of that province to spherical out the sector.

P.E.I. scene

Qualifiers will probably be held on April 30 at midday and Might 3 at 6 p.m., each at Pink Shores Charlottetown, in preparation for the Might 7 opening day on the capital-city oval. Pink Shores Summerside has qualifiers on Might 1 at midday.

Rockin Novel is in P.E.I. in preparation for the approaching season with the four-year-old son of Thriller Chase now owned by Danny Birt and Damian MacLellan of Earnscliffe. The stallion has 4 wins and $29,609 to his credit score with a 1:56 file taken in Alberta.

Share The Second is a looking forward to the open mares ranks because the four-year-old daughter of Management The Second strikes into the Bo Ford secure. She has 12 wins, $80,000 made and a mark of 1:54.1 over Flamboro Downs to her credit score.

Nicholas Oakes’ column seems in The Guardian every Friday. He will be reached at [email protected].