The Charlottetown Driving Park faithful sent Silent Swing off as the 1-9 favourite in Trial One for this year’s Gold Cup and Saucer, and the winner of the 2007 edition of the Maritime classic didn’t disappoint
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With Gilles Barrieau at the helm, Silent Swing motored to the early lead from the pole position and parked Outlawpositivcharg to the opening quarter in :26.4. That rival eventually held up the white flag and retreated to the three-hole, while Imjustalittleguy worked his way into the pocket spot.
Barrieau hammered out a :27.4 second quarter with the star student form the Jean Louis Arsenault, and that put the field at the mid-way point in a demanding clocking of :54.3. Silent Swing got a :30.4 breather in the third quarter as maintained the lead at the three-quarter pole in 1:25.2. Barrieau called on the gelding to go into sprint mode for the final quarter mile, and the seven-year-old son of Northern Luck-She Cantsay No complied with a :28.1 closing frame.
It was just enough to hold off Imjustalittleguy by a half-length margin in a time of 1:53.3. Hilo, who made a break before the start, regained his composure and wound up a best-of-the-rest third in the $12,500 tilt.
Dave Shea of Campbellville, ON and Reg Petitpas of Shediac Bridge, NB share ownership on Silent Swing, who has assembled a 5-1-1 record in 12 starts this season. The 36-time winner went over $1.4 million in earnings with the victory.
Trial Two will be contested on Sunday afternoon, with Trial Three scheduled for Monday evening.
The top three finishers from each of the Trials will advance to the $60,000 Gold Cup and Saucer final, which is scheduled for next Saturday evening at the Charlottetown Driving Park.
To view Saturday evening’s harness racing results, click here.