CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Czar Seelster was officially retired last season and now the stallion will be the newest addition to the Island stud ranks.
The Governor’s Plate and James (Roach) MacGregor Gold Cup and Saucer consolation champion hasn’t seen the starting gate since a trial of The Guardian Gold Cup and Saucer in August. The Greg Weatherbee trainee was interfered with by Make Some Luck in that race and taken out of contention. He was retired later in the season.
A 35-time winner with $214,090 in the bank and a mark of 1:51, Czar Seelster was raced all but five of his lifetime outings by Weatherbee, with Tammy Johnston of Stratford now holding the ownership papers.
The son of Stonebridge Regal-Cmon Mama Cass is a brother to $379,352-winner Calgary Seelster (1:50.3 Woodbine) as well as Imagine Speed, a Charlottetown regular. The iron-tough Czar Seelster had 71 top-three finishes in his career with his biggest win coming as a two-year-old in a $33,000 Battle Of Waterloo elimination at Grand River Raceway in Ontario.
The owners plan to pay him into the Atlantic Sires Stakes program for the 2020 breeding season.
Across The Continent
The O’Brien awards, honouring the best in Canadian harness racing, are set for Saturday night in Mississauga, Ont., with a number of members of the Island racing scene vying for awards.
Rising Ontario star Austin Sorrie of Montague is up against Dave Kelly Jr., formerly of Cape Breton, N.S., but racing in Alberta, for the future star award. Kelly’s father, Dave Kelly Sr., is a resident of Springvale.
Saint John, N.B., driver Gilles Barrieau, who finished second in the drivers’ standings at Red Shores at the Charlottetown Driving Park (CDP) and the Summerside Raceway in 2019, is up for the horsemanship award after previously winning the honour in 2005.
Century Farroh, trained by Summerside native Dr. Ian Moore, is nominated in the three-year-old pacing colt category against millionaire Captain Crunch.
Kingston native Anthony MacDonald will also receive the Cam Fella award for outstanding contribution to Canadian racing while talented Nova Scotia photographer Kyle Burton is up for a media excellence award for outstanding photography for a shot taken during the post parade of The Guardian Gold Cup and Saucer in Charlottetown.
Island-bred Pappy Go Go took on all comers recently as he won the $37,500 preferred trot at The Meadowlands in New Jersey in 1:52.2 for his third straight win and 32nd lifetime victory.
P.E.I. Scene
Island harness racing lost a true race fan this past week.
Maurice Murphy of Orwell, known to regulars at the CDP as the man in the white hat, died at age 79. Murphy was an ardent supporter of his great-nephew Marc Campbell, regularly appearing in his win photos. My condolences to his family.
The P.E.I. Standardbred Breeders Association is asking all members of the trotting sector to come to a stakeholder meeting at the grandstand of Red Shores in Charlottetown on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 1 p.m. This includes breeders, owners, trainers and drivers of trot horses.
Nicholas Oakes' column appears in The Guardian each Friday. He can be reached at [email protected].
