How P.E.I.'s iconic Gold Cup & Saucer race came to be, and how the coveted trophy got its name

At two minutes to midnight, the towering lights of the Charlottetown Driving Park glare down and illuminate the horses and track.

Thousands of faces watch in anticipation as the horses and drivers find their places behind the starter car.

Legendary race announcer Vance Cameron — who has labelled this "the greatest race in Canada" — is seconds away from calling the contest, where his booming voice can be heard across the capital.

And when the gated wings of the starter car fold, so begins the biggest stake in Prince Edward Island — for the most coveted trophy and purse in the province: the Gold Cup & Saucer.

"The excitement and the buzz, there's nothing like it," said Lee Drake, manager of racing and broadcast at Red Shores.

"It's not dubbed the greatest show in racing for nothing."

2022 marks the 63rd running of the Gold Cup & Saucer. Horses, drivers, trainers, viewers have come from all over to be a part of the race.

This year, the purse is the biggest it's ever been at $100,000. Drake expects somewhere around 20,000 people to be in the stands. As is tradition, it'll likely be standing room only.

Come the end of the less than two-minute race, only a few will be able to get their hands on the big prize — and only for so long.

"Everyone would love to get their hands on the Gold Cup & Saucer [trophy], but the actual fact is you're going to get your hands on it ... probably for about 30 to 35 minutes, maybe an hour, and then it goes back in the showcase," Drake said.

"The history and the people that have touched that trophy over the years, it really is special."

It's a bit different than trophies in other sports. It's not paraded around in the streets like the NHL's Stanley Cup, or thrown around like the NFL's Lombardi