Canbec Kingkazimir holds court at Topsham Fair

Topsham, Maine … Canbec Kingkazimir (Jereme’s Jet) knows a thing or two about winning harness races. The 14-year-old veteran harness racing pacer has held court at 23 racing ovals, reigning victoriously over 12 of them, in the process of amassing a record of 31 wins and $503,412 in career earnings.

And as he demonstrated on Monday (August 5) at the Topsham Fair, this king isn’t ready to abdicate anytime soon.

On a picture-perfect mid-summer afternoon at the bucolic mid-coast fairgrounds, trainer Russell Lanpher III harnessed his charge to compete in the $3500 finale of the first day of the meeting at the Topsham Fair. While far from the more lucrative purses that Canbec Kingkazimir had raced for in his youth, the task was at hand, the objective was clear, and the raceway warrior was ready.

In harness to driver Heath Campbell, Canbec Kingkazimir floated to the back of the pack as the battle began, content to watch in wonderment as Pembroke Scorpio (David Ingraham) and La Puddie A (Winter Asher-Stalbaum) hooked up in an epic brouhaha, propelling each other through a torrid opening panel of :28 before Asher-Stalbaum gained enough leverage to vault his steed alone to the half in :58.

As La Puddie A’s strides began to shorten. Canbec Kingkazimir began his rally into a quickly decelerating 1:03.4 back-half. Collaring the weary leader by the head of the stretch, he strode confidently to the wire 7-lengths on top, and timed in a seasonal best 2:01.4.

“I didn’t realize he was a 14-year-old until someone told me after the race,” said winning driver Heath Campbell, “He’s such an easygoing and willing horse. The fractions set up perfectly for him today and when I asked him to go he was ready to do his job. When he cleared there was no question he was going to win.”

CanbecKingkazimir is owned by Mrs Molly Thorton Lanpher, and with Maine’s two-month fairground season just beginning and with plenty of commercial track racing to follow, this king’s days of winning races appears far from over.

In other Topsham news, Heath Campbell and David Ingraham led the way among the drivers ranks, with each veteran teamster scoring two wins on the card.

The racetrack recovered nicely for Topsham’s first session of racing after racing was postponed following flooding suffered during Sunday’s (August 4) torrential downpours.

“They did a good job getting the track ready to race today,” said driver Heath Campbell, “Ironically, all that rain might have helped the track more than it hurt it. It was set up pretty good today.”

Live harness racing resumes at Topsham on Tuesday with post time scheduled for 3:00 p.m. (EDT). Tuesday’s nine race card will feature twin splits of Maine Sire Stakes races for three-year-old fillies, contested for purses in excess of $16,000 each.

The live stream of Topsham’s race meet is available here and online wagering is available here.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Mike Sweeney, for the Topsham Fair