At 24-1 odds, Oh To Be Me came flying late in the stretch to win the Thursday night feature at Red Shores at the Charlottetown Driving Park.
Owner-trainer-driver Gary Chappell mapped out the trip, opting to stay out of the speed duel between Forever Paradise and SOS Grappa as they cut fractions of 28.1, 57.2 and 1:27.2. Chappell was able to get Oh To Be Me up in the final strides to win by a neck in 1:58.
The Big Bite (Mike Stevenson) rallied for second with Forever Paradise (Marc Campbell) fading to third.
It was Chappell’s second winner on the program. For All We Know and Chappell won the Open Mares Pace in 1:56.4 for owner Bruce Wood of Marshfield, P.E.I. and trainer Jackie Matheson. Matheson’s other trainee General Luckypercy was second while Willow Warrior took the show prize.
The evening’s trot class went to newcomer Warrawee Nuke for driver Kuri White. The trotter arrived from Ottawa and is now home to the Blayne White stable of Belle River, P.E.I. The time of the mile was 2:02.1. Dunmore Chance was a nose off the winner for second with race favourite JK Queen finishing third.
Driver Walter Cheverie recorded a driving triple on the final night of the Drive for Charity promotion. Cheverie teamed up with Red Shores to raise money for Sadie’s Place in the 2014 campaign. He had winners aboard Newsmaker, Bowyer Hanover and Fitelle who paid $38.70 to his backers for the win ticket.
Ken Murphy also posted a driving double on the final Thursday night program of the season.
Racing returns Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. post time. Red Shores Summerside will host their final card of the season on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
To view charted results and payouts for Thursday night's card of harness racing at Red Shores Charlottetown, click the following link: Thursday Results - Red Shores Charlottetown.
(with files from Red Shores)