CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — You pick the horses; they’ll do the rest.
That is the mantra of an exciting new piece of the 2020 racing season known as the Atlantic Dream Stable contest. It is being presented by the P.E.I Standardbred Breeder’s Association as a way to ratchet up the action for race fans across the region.
Entrants will pick 12 horses from the Atlantic stakes circuit in a hypothetical stable. The contestant whose stable earns the most money will receive the grand prize of $1,000 cash at the end of the season.
The entry fee is $20 for the competition with the money going directly to the IWK Health Centre in Halifax. The $1,000 grand prize is being provided by corporate sponsors JD Marine & Diving, MCA Consultants Inc., Newport Consulting and Woodmere Standardbreds.
Red Shores will provide the second-place prize of dinner for four at the Top of the Park in Charlottetown and the third-place prize of a Gold Cup and Saucer merchandise package.
“Our association came up with the idea over the winter months, and I think it is a great way to build some excitement and an extra fan base for these horses throughout the season,” said association chairman Bruce Wood.
“The main thing is to make the entry process as user-friendly as possible while giving back to the community with a very worth charity like the IWK. There will be a learning curve with this being our first year doing it, but it’s going to be a lot of fun and someone out there will be getting $1,000 cash at the end of the season. It’s exciting.”
Entries can me made online at Atlanticdreamstable.weebly.com where there is a complete set of rules for the competition. Entrants are asked to use the entry form button on the website and e-transfer the entry fee to [email protected] or print off the printable version of the form and send your entry to the mailing address in the site.
Entrants are allowed to pick two horses in each category: two-year-old trot; three-year-old trot; two-year-old colt pace; two-year-old filly pace; three-year-old colt pace and three-year-old filly pace for a total of 12 horses. The stable with the highest earning power at the end of the year is the winner with ties broken by the lowest money earning horse in the stable, so every horse will count.
Fast Facts
What you need to know about the Atlantic Dream Stable competition 2020:
Entry fee: $20 with all proceeds going to the IWK Health Centre in Halifax.
How to enter: AtlanticDreamStable.Weebly.com.
Rules: Pick two horses from each division and entrant with the highest total purse earnings wins $1,000 cash.
Nicholas Oakes' column appears in The Guardian each Friday. He can be reached at [email protected].
