NB Breeders, Bremner Stakes & Rod Goguen Memorial highlight Saturday’s 10-race card
Horse Racing New Brunswick will host an action-packed Saturday afternoon program on Sept. 28 at Connell Park Raceway in Woodstock, with over $90,000 in purse money.
Saturday’s richest stake is the $21,000 Dawn & Dr. Ted Bremner Stake for three-year-old pacers. There are both a colt and filly division.
Although it’s a short field of five, the colt division is stacked with five horses with combined seasonal earnings of nearly $300,000.
Leading the way is Tobins Chester, who has won back-to-back races, including a 1:54.1 victory in his last start for owner Donald MacRae and driver Jason Hughes. He’s won over $85,000 this year and set a new record of 1:53.1.
The duo of Merigo Magic and Jackies Boy are not far behind in earnings.
Merigo Magic has won his last two outings, including a new record of 1:54.3 last week. Adam Merner trains and drives him. Mike May, Herman McQuaid, Derrick Cameron, and Ian Walker own him. He’s bankrolled over $75,000 this year.
Jackies Boy also has over $75,000 earned this season and is part of the big three in the three-year-old colt category this season. He loves Connell Park, where he captured the richest race ever at the half-mile track, the $50,000 Barrieau-McIasac final this season. Myles Heffernan Sr. drives for his son Myles Heffernan Jr.
Saturday will also feature a $21,000 filly division of the Bremner Stake with winners of approximately $180,000 in seasonal earnings. The Tom Weatherbie trainee Fern Hill Indigo leads the way, with over $51,000 in 2024 earnings and a record of 1:56.2.
Miss Dutton is the fastest of the fillies this year with a 1:55 eye-popping mile at Red Shores Charlottetown. Adam Merner will drive the filly for trainer Kuri White. Maritimer champion Miss Wicked is back Saturday at Connell Park and will have Corey Macpherson back on board.
New Brunswick Breeders Stakes go in two divisions for two-year-old pacing colts and fillies. My Happy Place and driver Gilles Barrieau headline the filly division with Like A King and Here On Earth included in the starters on the colt side. Both divisions go for $15,000.
Eight starters will engage in battle for the $8,000 Rod Goguen Memorial for invitational horses. What a field assembled to honour the memory of Rod Goguen, a popular Exhibition Park Raceway horseman.
Batterup Hanover and driver Paul Langille are fresh off a gate-to-wire 1:53.3 win in his last outing of a front-end effort. His inside post is a definitive advantage.
Post two will see the undefeated newcomer and locally owned Press Time, who has reeled off four straight wins at his home track for owner Zach Cougle and trainer Averil Hunter. He picks up the more than capable services of Corey Macpherson this week. He has won over Connell Park track in 1:54.1 this season.
Two Tom Weatherbie trainees are side by side as Fern Hill General, with Brodie MacPhee, and Island Beach Boy, with Adam Merner, leave from posts three and four. Fern Hill General has the fastest win of the pair in 1:53.3 at Red Shores Charlottetown.
Nova Scotia standout pacer American Risk leaves from post five and will have a familiar driver in the bike, New Brunswick’s Todd Trites. He’s had a solid year with a 1:53 win at Red Shores Charlottetown and seven wins for the Risky Bizz Group.
Rollwithhottytoddy and catch-driver Gilles Barrieau, one of two entries from the Trevor Hicken group, had a 1:53.1 win earlier this year. Tony Too Tall is a relative newcomer to the Maritimes but has been charting in the 1:53 range. Myles Heffernan Sr will drive from post six.
Rounding out the field is Bee Two Bee, who is clicking on all cylinders with two straight wins for driver Jason Hughes and owner Donald MacRae. He’s the co-holder of the Red Shores Charlottetown track record of 1:50.1, which he equalled in 2023. He recently captured a division of the Richard Campbell Memorial at Charlottetown.
The post time for Saturday’s 10-dash program is at 1 p.m., and Horse Racing New Brunswick would like to thank all the horsemen, women, and fans who continue to support horse racing in New Brunswick despite no government support.
They extend their gratitude and appreciation to all involved, including the local volunteers at Woodstock, to keep the industry alive in the province.
The track has been in great shape this year, witnessing the fastest mile ever paced in New Brunswick by Fredericton-owned American History in the Kelti Burnett Memorial in 1:52.
