CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The 2021 harness racing season soldiers on as Red Shores at the Charlottetown Driving Park is the only track currently racing in Canada.
Saturday’s card will see a truly rare occurrence with two pairs of full brothers facing off in the same race.
The 14-dash program has a 12:30 p.m. opening post time, and Race 11 will see the odd matchup with Post 1 starter Silverhilllightnin being driven by Lenny Myers, while Post 3 starter Silverhill Buddy is trained by David Myers.
On the equine side, the full-brother pacers are sired by Proven Lover out of the Artsplace mare Todalu from the Gavin family’s Silverhill Farms of Tignish.
On the human side, the brother duo of David and Lenny hail from the large Myers family of Mount Albion that has seen a large portion of the clan become deeply involved in Island harness racing. Lenny was formerly a top dash-winning driver at the capital oval, while David has been involved in racing his whole life with his first training win coming in his inaugural season as a conditioner in 2019.
There is no question that Silverhill Buddy is the more dominant entry with the seven-year-old pacer boasting eight wins and $14,846 in earnings last season for owners David Myers, Joanne Colleen MacRae of Charlottetown and Gwyneth McGuirk of Stratford. Known for being a force off the front end, Silverhill Buddy was race timed in 1:57.1 on Tuesday night for regular driver David Dowling in the non-winners $1,351 last five class.
Silverhilllightnin, 5, has yet to hit his full stride like his big brother but has undergone a renaissance of sorts since teaming up with Lenny Myers in the bike. The pacer won two races in 2020, both for Lenny in the last part of the season, banking $5,372 for owner-trainer Stacey Lund of Stratford, who also previously trained both horses’ sire, Proven Lover. Silverhilllightnin was beaten by a neck on Tuesday evening in 2:00.3 to finish third in the non-winners $751 last five class and rises a class to meet his class-dropping brother.
The face-off between the two could very well lead to a blowout by Silverhill Buddy but regardless of what happens on the track this is the kind of story that makes the intimate backdrop of Island racing so special.
P.E.I. Scene
Jamie MacKinley’s Double J Farms of Cornwall is pleased to announce the arrival of new stallion Boomboom Ballykeel for the 2021 season. The 10-year-old son of Mach Three is a 44-time winner with $976.487 in earnings and a mark of 1:49.3 taken over Mohawk Raceway in Ontario. The stallion’s biggest win came in the 2013 Metro Pace for two-year-old pacing colts as Sylvain Filion drove the Richard Moreau-trained pacer to victory in 1:50.4 in the $683,000 event.
Nicholas Oakes' column appears in The Guardian each Friday. He can be reached at [email protected].
