CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Sock It Away will make his first Canadian four-year-old start tonight at Red Shores at the Charlottetown Driving Park after putting together one of the greatest sophomore seasons in the history of Atlantic Canadian harness racing.
The 12-dash program begins at 6 p.m. with the $2,800 featured preferred pace hitting the track in Race 11 where Sock It Away will start a fresh season. Corey MacPherson will handle the Kevin MacLean-trained and Reg MacPherson-owned champion pacer.
A winner of 20 of 21 races as a three-year-old in 2018 in Atlantic Canada, Sock It Away was then sent to the U.S. with trainer Andrew Harris recording just one second from seven starts with his final American outing on April 9. The son of Pang Shui was then brought back to P.E.I. and given a rest with him just resurfacing last week in a qualifier.
Race analyst Les MacIsaac sees the race as Sock It Away’s to lose with the ideal post in a tight-knit field of six.
“The incredible three-year-old season he had last year didn't mean much when he headed south of the border and after a few starts down there he was looking for his mother,” MacIsaac said. “He's now back to more familiar surroundings and coming off a nice qualifier. The rail just adds to his appeal.”
Other entries are Jeb (Jason Hughes), Santanna Sass (Kenny Arsenault), Rollwithitharry (Gilles Barrieau), Eagle Jolt (Marc Campbell) and Rockin Indy (David Dowling).
The back-up class will line up in Race 8 with another MacLean-trained pacer, Forever Paradise, the favourite leaving from Post 4 in the $2,500 event. Campbell is in the bike for owners Reg MacPherson and David MacKenzie of Stratford and Aaron MacKenzie of Winsloe. The top contenders to Forever Paradise include Noplay (Ken Murphy) and Midnight Matt (Hughes).
– Compiled by Nicholas Oakes for Red Shores.
