SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — It was great to see Kingston’s James MacDonald win the Canadian Pacing Derby, the biggest and most prestigious harness race in Canada.
The win by MacDonald aboard Courtly Choice last Saturday in Toronto was the biggest of his career and he was delighted in his post-race interview. A very well-spoken and classy MacDonald stated he never had much luck chasing these big races, but luck was on his side this year.
Courtly Choice's regular driver Dave Miller opted to drive McWicked in the race, opening the door for MacDonald to drive Courtly Choice. Ironically, the same situation happened in the same race with the same two drivers five years ago with Miller winning.
MacDonald has earned the reins on Courtly Choice for as long as he wants says trainer Blake MacIntosh and that includes his next start, tonight in a $440,000 invitational in Ohio. MacDonald resides in Guelph, Ont., and is married to Jenna MacDonell, who is the daughter of Paul MacDonell, the driver of the great Somebeachsomewhere.
MacDonald, 32, has been a regular driver on the Woodbine/Mohawk circuit, the big leagues of harness racing, for seven years and has been racing since 2009. He has more than 1,500 wins and driven winners of more than $17.5 million in purse money. He was the world driving champion in 2017 when he won the event in Charlottetown where he got his introduction to the sport.
MacDonald has become one of the better drivers in harness racing and winning races like the Canadian Pacing Derby is proof of that. It is great to see our Island athletes doing well on the big stage.
MINOR BASEBALL
It was another great year for Summerside Baseball and, as is the case every year, it has a number of championships to celebrate and maybe more to come.
They are P.E.I. champs at the peewee A, bantam AAA and midget AA levels and finished second at the peewee AAA level. The midget AA team also hosted and won the Atlantic championship last weekend and Summerside teams have a real good chance of winning two more Atlantic titles next weekend.
The Baseball Canada peewee AAA Atlantics take place next weekend in Dartmouth, N.S., and the AAA Chevy's will be there. The Summerside AAA bantams go to the Atlantics next weekend in Miramichi, N.B., as Island champs and I’m told this team is as good as any in our region.
Summerside has always been a power at any level of baseball that is played here, and this year is no different. Summerside Baseball is the largest minor baseball association in our province with 327 kids playing this summer, up from 324 in 2018. There was 1,940 registered Island-wide with Stratford having the second largest association in our province.
Good Luck to all P.E.I. teams at next weekend’s Atlantic championships.
HARNESS RACING
Hats off to those at Red Shores for giving Summerside another invitational pace this racing season.
Five of the best horses in our region are set to go in the $4,000 feature on Sunday and that is if the weather permits. It sounds like it may be a washout with the predicted heavy rain, but the card of racing will likely be run early next week.
The best Maritime horse this year, Rose Run Quest, is entered along with Best to Hurst, Euchred, Lisburn and last Monday's Labour Day Pace winner Bugsy Maguire.
Lisburn is owned by former Summerside resident Kevin Harvey, who was a terrific athlete and played fast-pitch softball with the great Twins teams of the past. He also played junior hockey with the Summerside Western Capitals.
The local track has never had much more than the annual Governor's Plate in the invitational ranks and this is at least the second year in a row an invitational pace has been run in September.
NHL
The NHL collective bargaining 10-year agreement is set expire in September 2022. Both the league and the players’ association have until Sunday, Sept. 15, to file to have the current agreement reopened, which would trigger an expiration of the current agreement two years sooner on Sept. 15, 2020. That is next year and hopefully the players’ association do the same as the league, which has announced it is fine with the current agreement until it expires in 2022.
The NHL has never been better and hopefully the players’ association feel the same way ahead of next Sunday's deadline. NHL training camps open in the coming week.
Have a great week.
Joe MacIntyre is a local life insurance broker. His column appears every Saturday. Comments and suggestions can be sent to [email protected].
