In 2011 Islanders were industry leaders

As always in our first column of the New Year, we take a look at how the local dandy lions of harness racing have fared both home and away. Marc Campbell’s story, as I said last week, dominated. He’s now officially Atlantic Canada’s 2011 Driver of the Year and it only remains to be seen if he captures the O’Brien Award as well. In 848 starts he had 174 wins and posted a driving average of .333. Campbell was the top driver at both the ‘Charlottetown Driving Park’ and ‘Summerside Raceway'. At the capital city oval he posted 122 wins in 577 starts and set a new seasonal win record. His closest competitor was Kenny Arsenault followed by Walter Cheverie, Mark Bradley and Mike Stevenson. At Summerside Marc had 34 wins in 196 starts. Then came Corey MacPherson, Bradley, Cheverie and Norris Rogers. The leading trainer at the CDP was Jackie Matheson with 40 wins, followed by Campbell, Arsenault, Darren Trainor and Mitch Tierney. Tierney was the top trainer at SRW with 14 wins, followed by Dale Sobey, Campbell, Trainor and Terry Gallant. Honourable mentions on the local scene go to Mark Cullen who won the annual Trot Challenge at the CDP and Shane Bernard who captured the E.F. (Duck) Acorn Award in the Drivers Challenge competition on Horsemen’s Day.
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Islanders also did well nationally in 2011. Standardbred Canada reports that Anthony MacDonald was third in the country with 458 wins. John MacDonald held seventh place on the win list with 333. Dave Dowling was sixth in Canada in terms of a driving average with a .348 and Mike Stevenson ninth at .343. Tony MacDonald was also tenth in purses won, coming in at almost three and a half million dollars.
And of course Summerside’s Shannon ‘Sugar’ Doyle was named to co-host the 2012 Standardbred Canada O’Brien Awards Gala.
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Island horsemen who were also among the winningest drivers (top five) at individual tracks. These included; Alberta Downs where John Chappell who was second in wins with 68, Gordie Hennessey at EPR third – 31 and at Fredericton Mike Stevenson fourth – 11. At Flamboro Downs Anthony MacDonald was fourth with 190 wins, second at Grand River – 76 and first at Georgian Downs with 141. The Kawartha Downs stats show James MacDonald was fourth in wins at 67, while at Northlands Park John Chappell was also in fourth place with 34. John MacDonald was the leading driver in the nation’s capital as he had 328 wins at Rideau Carlton Raceway. Two Island drivers made the top 5 list at Sudbury Downs. Dave Dowling lead the way and had 104 wins. I should mention here that Dowling was also tenth in North America, with a driving average of .348 for those with over 500 starts. Mike MacNeill was third on the win list at Sudbury with 72.
I also noted that Mike Campbell holds down third spot at Fredericton and Sheldon Watts fifth in training wins. To close out the list, Dave Dowling was also in fourth place on Sudbury’s trainers’ list.
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As for the US, Wally Hennessey remains the top PEI export to the game there. He led all drivers at Pompano Park in 2011, had 237 wins and earned $1.2 million (US) in purses. Hennessey stands seventh in North America with a .351 driving average. He closed out the season at his home track in Florida by reining Little Brown Jug winner Big Bad John to a new 3-year-old pacing record of 1:51.1 on New Years Eve. Currently his brother Dan stands fourth on the Pompano Park trainer’s list.
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Finally, taking a quick look in general at the Maritimes, the bright spot is PEI, where the industry continues to thrive. In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick the number of owners and racing stock is in decline and breeders have cut way back, or are selling out. NB under Harness Racing New Brunswick is mired in arguments over industry management, race dates, what-have-you. This past year the government there even refused to meet its annual commitment to the Atlantic stakes program.
In Nova Scotia to date, there’s been little industry support from the Dexter government for new initiatives. The Great Canadian Gaming Corp.’s casino monopoly has mitigated against a racino proposal at Dartmouth Crossing and Truro is reported to be in deep financial trouble. A plan by the Millbrook First Nation for a racino complex there, has not been able to get off the ground as yet. North Sydney management and horsemen apparently have some issues to deal with, while Inverness remains static. Both these provinces are in immediate need of strong industry leadership with a political power base, but little seems forthcoming.
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Yet right across Northumberland Strait, they have a template as to how it could work. In 2004 (prior to the racinos), an economic impact statement showed that harness racing’s contribution to the PEI economy was in the area of $20 million. This was used to convince the Binns government of the industry’s growth potential - hence their racino decision. Today some say the trickle down effect of the industry is worth close to $75 million to the province’s economy, possibly even more.
Currently at ‘Summerside Raceway’ even with a few obstacles, there’s plenty of hope for the future. I’m told the mayor and council have discussed the race date situation with the area’s five MLAs and are pressing for more cards. Also while some on the old Prince County Horsemen’s Club executive may have folded like an accordion under the PEIHRIA’s Family Compact pressures, there’s already rumblings this will change with the new group at SRW. Meanwhile ALC’s management team continues to work on developing the new facility, which opened in July 2010. Last year’s Lobster Carnival racing program was deemed a great success and I’m also told the bet was up overall in 2011. Suffice it to say that Summerside has had a good start with the support of its horsemen and loyal fans. It will continue to flourish in 2012, but more race dates will remain the top priority.
The ‘Charlottetown Driving Park’ has had a banner year and is increasingly recognized throughout North America as one of the sport’s premiere facilities. I give Tom Mullally’s team of Brett Revington and Lee Drake much of the credit. Who can deny the impact of presenting Island racing on the world wide web, the introduction of HPI Bet online and the hosting of both the Atlantic and National Driving Championships? These events, plus the success of Old Home Week racing and the Atlantic Breeders Crown week-end, served to showcase PEI’s talented horsemen/women, the CDP and the Island’s Harness Racing industry in general. And of course one mustn’t forget the Kentucky of Canada’s loyal fans. I look for big things to happen in the future, as the ALC team assumes more control of the Island’s facilities and the racing agenda. Hopefully with their leadership and horsemen’s input, the industry will continue it’s growth on Prince Edward Island.
And that’s the way I saw the past year - have a great 2012.
Questions/Comments? hal.al@sympatico.ca