The 2022 Atlantic Sires Stakes season kicked off on Friday evening (June 17) at Truro Raceway, with Therealprincess ruling the three-year-old pacing fillies.

Therealprincess stole the show in the lone $15,020 ‘A’ division with Corey MacPherson driving for trainer Eddy Doucette.

Fresh off her 1:54.3 track record-equalling performance in the Donnie & George Turner Memorial Stakes last Friday (pictured above), 1-9 favourite Therealprincess left alongside Mystical Gal (Dale Spence) and forged to the front on the way to the :28.1 first quarter mark over the ‘good’ track. She continued to lead past the half in :58.3 with reigning Atlantic Breeders Crown divisional champ Boo Yaya (Redmond Doucet) advancing first-up and Orrsterror (Gilles Barrieau) following her cover until launching three-wide down the backstretch. However, Therealprincess had opened up a pair of lengths past three-quarters in 1:28.2 and left her rivals battling for the minor spoils in the rain as she spun for home and widened her winning margin to five by the wire in 1:56.3.  Orrsterror finished second and Mystical Gal was third over Boo Yaya.

A five-time winner from a dozen starts and a top three finisher in the Atlantic Breeders Crown during her rookie campaign, the Source Of Pride-Deviliciously Good filly is now perfect in three sophomore starts — all against stakes competition. Doucette co-owns the career winner of $52,188 with fellow Kensington, P.E.I. residents Blaine Thibeau, Gordon MacLeod and Grant Mann.

A pair of ‘B’ divisions, worth $3,000 each, were won by the maiden-breaking Joseph Baxter trainee Kinda Like Royalty (Darren Crowe) in 1:59 and Cutter Loose in 1:59.1 for trainer/driver Marc Campbell.

The three-year-old pacing fillies will meet again for the second leg of the Atlantic Sires Stakes on July 15 at Summerside Raceway.

(Standardbred Canada)