CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Doug Polley will look for redemption tonight in the first trial for The Guardian Gold Cup and Saucer at Red Shores at the Charlottetown Driving Park as part of Old Home Week racing.
The Amherst, N.S., resident has long dreamed of winning the golden apple of Atlantic Canadian harness racing, but the closest he has ever been was a sixth-place finish while driving Boyle Almahurst in a 1994 Gold Cup and Saucer trial.
Now, along with partner Gordon McComb of Fall River, N.S., he will send out Rockin In Heaven from Post 4 in the Trial 1, carded as Race 12 for a $12,500 purse on the Saturday evening card at the capital oval. First race post time is 7 p.m. for the program.
Trained by Springhill, N.S., native Teesha Symes, Rockin In Heaven has been racing the top echelon of aged pacers in Canada, winning the $34,000 preferred pace at Woodbine Mohawk Park in Ontario on Aug. 4.
“He’s racing good and we’re all Maritimers,” Polley said of the decision to bring the six-year-old son of Rock N Roll Heaven for the Gold Cup and Saucer. “We’re quite excited about going. I don’t know how many calls I’ve got this week. This is quite a prestigious race, especially for Maritimers.”
With more than $700,000 in career earnings, Rockin In Heaven has never been better than this season, taking a mark of 1:49.2 earlier this year.
“The horse always races good,” Polley said. “If he races his normal race he’ll be right there with them that is for sure. Teesha says he’s in great form right now, loving the Island and running and playing.”
A finalist in the 2015 Little Brown Jug, Rockin In Heaven was formerly co-owned and trained by Summerside native Dr. Ian Moore, but the partnership dissolved last fall which led to the horse being sent to Symes, a former Moore employee, to train.
“It was a no-brainer,” Polley said. “She has groomed the horse since he was a yearling and knows the horse. Now he’s racing great for her and she has him just like a spoiled little kid.”
In the field of seven pacers Saturday night, Polley will look to Post 3 starter Somewhere Fancy to provide the biggest challenge.
“The three inside horses look like the better horses,” he said. “Somewhere Fancy has over $100,000 made this year so he’s no slouch and Rose Run Quest has been racing great too. There will be no easy races. We’re just all so excited to be a part of it.”
Tonight’s program will also feature a $5,000 Atlantic Invitational Pace, while this afternoon’s 1 p.m. card will be headlined by the Atlantic Sires Stakes for three-year-old pacing fillies.
TRIAL 1
The field for tonight’s The Guardian Gold Cup and Saucer Trial 1.
Post Horse Driver
1 Paparazzi Hanover Travis Cullen
2 Fool Me Once Robert Shepherd
3 Somewhere Fancy Simon Allard
4 Rockin In Heaven J. Harris
5 Father Of the Year Mitchell Downey
6 Rose Run Quest Marc Campbell
7 Jackson K Down Corey MacPherson
