CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Old Home Week 2018 is in the books and it delivered on its promise for an action-packed week of racing.
Somewhere Fancy won the 59th running of Gold Cup and Saucer, which was sponsored this year by The Guardian as part of a multi-year agreement, at Red Shores at the Charlottetown Driving Park (CDP). Simon Allard steered his first Gold Cup and Saucer winner with Somewhere Fancy from Post 6 as he wore down pacesetter Rockin In Heaven for a mile time of 1:50.4.
RELATED: Click here for the story from the big race.
Allard had a much-discussed move down the homestretch as he took both feet out of the stirrups and stuck them straight in the air in celebration before the wire. Unorthodox winning celebrations are not a new occurrence for Allard, who made headlines last year when winning the $529,000 Ben Franklin final in Pennsylvania. When returning to the winner’s circle in that race, Allard stood up in the race bike with the horse in motion and unzipped his suit to reveal a Superman T-shirt.
There are a variety of opinions to whether he should have done his Gold Cup and Saucer salute but either way it’s refreshing to see this kind of emotion in this race.
Honourable mention to the monstrous trip by Rose Run Quest in finishing third in the Old Home Week finale, pacing a mile in 1:51.2 for trainer-driver Marc Campbell and owner Blair Hansen of Charlottetown.
In other action, Sock It Away continued his perfect season with his 10th win of his three-year-old campaign in the Joe O’Brien Memorial stake. Campbell was in the bike for trainer Kevin MacLean and owner Reg MacPherson of Stratford.
On Friday night, R Es Shabla found her way to victory in arguably the second-most anticipated race of the week as she defeated a field of the best fillies in the Maritimes in a $12,000 Lady Slipper gold division. Mike McGuigan trains and drives the filly as she won in 1:55 to tie the CDP track record for three-year-old pacing fillies, held by Dustlanemissmolly.
On Thursday evening, Therealdeal and Magical Mistress both continued to be perfect in 2018, winning their A divisions of the Atlantic Sires Stakes for two-year-old pacing fillies.
On Wednesday evening, Earl Smith continued to show why he was been a top player in the Atlantic Sires Stakes for decades as he steered Woodmere Bolt to victory in a two-year-old pacing colt Atlantic Sires Stakes A division for a $13,680 purse. The son of first crop sire Malicious is still undefeated in his career after five outings.
Tuesday, Electric Syl had his annual Old Home Week win in 1:59.1 for driver Dale Spence and trainer George Rennison. Rennison, a Milford, N.S., native, is a loyal supporter of Old Home Week, taking his Truro, N.S., stable to the Island every August and is one of the people that help fill cards to make this week happen.
Monday afternoon, Flash In The Pang impressed with a 1:55.4 victory for driver David Dowling and trainer Pat Murphy in a $12,800 Atlantic Sires Stakes A division for three-year-old pacing colts. Murphy had not had a training start since 2013 until he qualified this talented colt earlier this season.
Weather was a major factor throughout the week, causing the postponement of the first Thursday card of Country Days, pushing it to Friday afternoon, while both cards on Gold Cup and Saucer day were pushed to Sunday.
All in all, a first-class show put on all week by horsepeople and staff at Red Shores with top-notch broadcasts reaching audiences worldwide. Not to forget the biggest thanks to the staff in the race office for putting together each and every program. It was a long week, but it couldn’t have happened without Gerard Smith, Kathy Carragher and Tara Myers. Let’s do it all again next year.
Nicholas Oakes' column appears in The Guardian each Friday. He can be reached at [email protected].