Gold Cup & Saucer

[Pacingguy]

I noticed none of the American tracks are simulcasting Saturday night's Gold Cup & Saucer from Charlottetown Driving Park on PEI in Canada. Now granted CDP racing on the whole is an inferior product but the Gold Cup & Saucer is a race steeped in tradition and actually draws good horses from accross Canada with some of the best drivers in Canada returning to PEI to compete. I understand why the tracks would not take in the whole signal from CDP, but you would think they would be willing to have the Gold Cup & Saucer as a special event carrying just the one race. This race is bettable. Am I just too much of a fan wanting this?

[LottaKash]

PNG, I seriously doubt any other track, would be much interested in the televising or the outcome of a $60K race...There is a good field of horses running in that race, but not anyone of a stellar nature, at least not enough, imo, to cause any more than local or provincial fan interest....Perhaps Mohawk or some other Canadian track might simulcast the signal of that race, but not the card itself which today is better than on most other nights, where the purses only average less than $1K...

From what I gathered, Charlottetown Driving Park is a little 1/2 miler located in Nova Scotia, near Halifax, and they race there about 2-times a week fromn April to Sep....But this week is a special week, and they will race 10-days in a row.... and today Sat 8/21, there is a Day/Nite "doubleheader"...The "Boley Cup & Saucer" is their Premier event of the season....There is even a race named after Joe O'Brien, another hall of fame driver/trainer...

The "cup & saucer" is an interesting one, from a handicapping perspective.... It features, Silent Swing a regular feature racer from Mohawk who appears to be the classiest of the bunch, and the great Wally Hennessey will be up in the bike, but Swing is saddled with the 8-hole in that 9-horse field, and there are some other nice ones that have a good shot to win from more inside posts on that 1/2 miler, as some did well in their qualifying elims last week...No gimmes in there....I still think that, Silent Swing has enough of class and speed to overcome the post, tho...we'll see...

Too bad Youbet doesn't carry that signal, it would be a good race to watch and wager on....

best,

[Pacingguy]

Originally Posted by LottaKash

PNG, I seriously doubt any other track, would be much interested in the televising or the outcome of a $60K race...There is a good field of horses running in that race, but not anyone of a stellar nature, at least not enough, imo, to cause any more than local or provincial fan interest....Perhaps Mohawk or some other Canadian track might simulcast the signal of that race, but not the card itself which today is better than on most other nights, where the purses only average less than $1K...

From what I gathered, Charlottetown Driving Park is a little 1/2 miler located in Nova Scotia, near Halifax, and they race there about 2-times a week fromn April to Sep....But this week is a special week, and they will race 10-days in a row.... and today Sat 8/21, there is a Day/Nite "doubleheader"...The "Boley Cup & Saucer" is their Premier event of the season....There is even a race named after Joe O'Brien, another hall of fame driver/trainer...

The "cup & saucer" is an interesting one, from a handicapping perspective.... It features, Silent Swing a regular feature racer from Mohawk who appears to be the classiest of the bunch, and the great Wally Hennessey will be up in the bike, but Swing is saddled with the 8-hole in that 9-horse field, and there are some other nice ones that have a good shot to win from more inside posts on that 1/2 miler, as some did well in their qualifying elims last week...No gimmes in there....I still think that, Silent Swing has enough of class and speed to overcome the post, tho...we'll see...

Too bad Youbet doesn't carry that signal, it would be a good race to watch and wager on....

best,

Kash, Make no mistake about it, Charlottetown's racing stock is nothing to write home about; it probably is on the level of Thunder Ridge. The only reason why I suggest other tracks picking it up is due to its history, something harness racing is very quick to dismiss. There is a lot of history to this race as many of the PEI trainers and drivers that left for greener pastures make every effort to come back for this puny $60k purse. I would only suggest picking up the one race as a special event. Perhaps it is too Canadian an event for any American interest; I guess my interest in this is due to being such a fan of racing itself, not just as a gambling sport.

I do know WEG is taking CDP's signal for the evening; whether any other Canadian tracks are picking it up is unknown.

BTW, it may be for different reasons but we probably would be better off if we had tracks that raced two or three days a week instead of racing five or six days.

I wonder if there is any race in the United States which has a tradition similar to the Gold Cup & Saucer; small purse but rich history.

[LottaKash]

Originally Posted by Pacingguy

Kash, Make no mistake about it, Charlottetown's racing stock is nothing to write home about; it probably is on the level of Thunder Ridge. The only reason why I suggest other tracks picking it up is due to its history, something harness racing is very quick to dismiss. There is a lot of history to this race as many of the PEI trainers and drivers that left for greener pastures make every effort to come back for this puny $60k purse. I would only suggest picking up the one race as a special event. Perhaps it is too Canadian an event for any American interest; I guess my interest in this is due to being such a fan of racing itself, not just as a gambling sport.

I do know WEG is taking CDP's signal for the evening; whether any other Canadian tracks are picking it up is unknown.

BTW, it may be for different reasons but we probably would be better off if we had tracks that raced two or three days a week instead of racing five or six days.

I wonder if there is any race in the United States which has a tradition similar to the Gold Cup & Saucer; small purse but rich history.

Don, Don, Calling Wilderness Don....Where are you Don ?

Don will know...I am sure....

best,

[wilderness]

the Harness racing PEI website says 2009 is the 50th edition (1959-60) (BTW, many more than Joe O'Brien have come from that area and to larger fame)

Many of the smaller tracks in both the US and Canada have races that have existed for many years. Some have been renamed over time, while others have been dropped.

I'm sure there are some stakes races with low purses that are NOT raced at the major tracks of harness racing, however parsing through the many lines of a Trotting and Pacing Guide's Chronical section is not one of my joys.

The Tompkins-Geers comes to mind (even though it hasn't stayed at the same track). Originally the series was created by the Hambletonain Society as a 3YO event for trotters that had made the conversion to pacing and already paid some early sustaining fees as a trotter.
Today it still offers low purses and has been raced at Tioga Downs the past two years. Previous to that that it was either at Indiana Downs or Hoosier Park (I recall a discussion of the change on the Hoosier Forum).

Lexington (Red Mile) has some lesser stakes (purse wise) that have existed for many years and under various names while maintaining the same conditions.

The Maritimes have a history that is rich and long.
There's been a couple of recent books published of the Maritimes racing.

Patrick (Worst To First) visits this forum occasionally. In addition to being a driver-trainer he, and a handful of others are doing extensive accumulation of historical data on the Martimes Racing.

[wilderness]

Most of these are for younger horses and most have purses less than 60k.
I'm sure there are others that are not listed in the USTA's Trotting and Pacing Guide (state/province Sires stakes, many of which have existed for many decades are not listed in the T&P's).

The Acorn (1945)
The Arden Down Stakes (1957) (various gait and gender)
The Debutante Stakes (1947)
The Fox Stake (1927) altohugh it had 20-years (1970-90) where the purses were 100k+.
The Goshen Cup (1949)
The Hanover Filly Stakes (1947)
The E. H. Harriman Challenge Cup (1924)
The Hayes Memorial (1946)
The Historic Dickerson Cup (1910)
The Hoosier Stakes/Futurity (1937)
The Horseman Futurity (1907)
The Horseman Stakes (1937)
The Hudson Filly Trot (1957)
The Review Stakes (1942) (various gait and gender)
The W. N. Reynolds Memorial (1951) (various gait and gender)
The John Simpson Sr., Stake (1960) (various gait and gender)
The Standardbred (1943) (various gait and gender)

[Old Yeller]

Charlottetown Raceway is in Charlottetown , Prince Edward Island. Prince Edward Island is a province in Eastern Canada. It is one of the Maritime province along with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Prince Edward Island is a small very charming little place and it's capital Charlottetown is a small but very busy little city. The Gold Cup and Saucer is held every year during old home week on the Island. It is a very old tradition . They will be fine without any major exposure.

[DeanT]

Just dont have one of the chalk break in the trials. In that case you do not have to be in PEI, you can hear the announcer from as far as Bangor Maine

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[wilderness]

"(state/province Sires stakes, many of which have existed for many decades are not listed in the T&P's)."

LK,
The M & M (Merchants and Manufacturer's) was a longtime stake that began in the 1890's. At one point it was held in multiple cities. Some states still have remnants of these races under different names.

My own awareness of the M & M came as a result of exploring the former Grosse Pointe track in what is today the City of Detroit.

[wilderness]

Dean,
There used to be an announcer in Quebec that called the races in a sort of broken language mixing French and English together

[LottaKash]

Originally Posted by wilderness

Dean,
There used to be an announcer in Quebec that called the races in a sort of broken language mixing French and English together

That refreshes my memory about a time that I got a "surprise"

My wife and I were on our "honeymoon" in 69', and we went to the "Expo" (sort of like a World's Fair) in Montreal....It dawned on me, that "Blue Bonnets Raceway" (now the "Hippodrome de Montreal", currently in bankruptcy) had 5/8th's of mile Harness-racing there.....

So we get to the track a bit late for the early DD, and I grabbed the programs, and we headed for railside to watch the post-parade and the horse's warmups, and while we are walking thru the grandstand, the announcer started announcing the horses that were just coming onto the track.....

And the announcer, making his intros for each horse, in both French & English, kept saying, in the english part,..."Anh day Chuckee ees"....I turned to my wife, and asked her, "what's with this chuckee ees", and she said, they are probably the Jockeys....I said that can't be, this is harness racing, but, maybe here, they call the Drivers, Jockeys as well"....So we get out to trackside, and sure enough, they are T-breds in living colors.....

I never realized that they share the same track, for both breeds....

It didn't make any difference back then, as I was equally as bad with picking winners with either mode of runners..... ...But I loved it....

P.S.....That track had been in opeation for 101 years...

best,

[wilderness]

Originally Posted by LottaKash

P.S.....That track had been in opeation for 101 years...

best,

I've a couple of pictures (although not superb quality) from the Trotter and Pacer magazine, which was published more or less on comic-book like paper.

[LottaKash]

It's Official...The winner of the "cup & saucer"....was won by a 27/1 shot....Silent Swing went off at $.95/1 and was hung the mile, he finished 2d...

Wow, wall to wall people at that track....I miss watching "big races' when it was wall to wall....exciting times...

Here is a link to the replay of that race....that announcer sure has a lot zest !

http://standardbredcanada.ca/news/8-...up-saucer.html

best,

[Sea Biscuit]

Originally Posted by LottaKash

It's Official...The winner of the "cup & saucer"....was won by a 27/1 shot....Silent Swing went off at $.95/1 and was hung the mile, he finished 2d...

Wow, wall to wall people at that track....I miss watching "big races' when it was wall to wall....exciting times...

Here is a link to the replay of that race....that announcer sure has a lot zest !

http://standardbredcanada.ca/news/8-...up-saucer.html

best,

That was a bad drive by Paul Mackenzie on #4 Along Came Polly when he could have had the pocket trip but decided to pull his horse at the quarter pole and went into unnecessary duel with #1 horse Pacific Oaks with Brad Forward aboard in to a 53.4 half.


I am sure Forward will remember this all his life.

About the commentator all I can say is he was screaming his head off rather than narrate a running commentary. You should listen to him on the video that Dean sent in.

Sea Biscuit.

[Pacingguy]

Originally Posted by LottaKash

It's Official...The winner of the "cup & saucer"....was won by a 27/1 shot....Silent Swing went off at $.95/1 and was hung the mile, he finished 2d...

Wow, wall to wall people at that track....I miss watching "big races' when it was wall to wall....exciting times...

Here is a link to the replay of that race....that announcer sure has a lot zest !

http://standardbredcanada.ca/news/8-...up-saucer.html

best,

Just watched the replay. This is the way harness racing should be. Like the Jug, wall to wall people all around the track. Did the race have the best horses around? Certainly not. But you know what? With all the people attending, the excitement and everything else associated with this race, I rather watch a race like this than one with the so called 'super' horses.

This is the attraction of the Gold Cup & Saucer. This is the way harness racing ought to be. Where did we go wrong?