Whisper Of Luck at her best again in Maine Sire Stakes

WINDSOR, ME – Freshmen pacing filly Whisper Of Luck (Artistic Fella) has shown an abundance of skill during the Fair circuit of the Maine Sire Stakes, grabbing her second consecutive harness racing victory on Friday (Aug. 30) at the historic Windsor Fair.

Leaving from post four in the $19,617 feature, the Marc Tardif-trained mare slipped down to the pylons and let front-runner Chasing Dudes (Nick Graffam) take command into a 31 second opening panel.  Wagering favorite Glorilla (Ron Cushing) hesitantly marched first over from the start with Leanne Marie (Mike Cushing) sitting comfortably in the pocket.

As the field moved toward the 1:02.3 softer half-mile marker, driver Kevin Switzer, Jr. pulled Whisper Of Luck second over, but as his cover started to stall around the third turn, they ducked back to the rail before heading down the backstretch the final time.

With the pacesetter Chasing Dudes enjoying all the tussling behind them, Audrey (Steve Wilson) pulled three-wide down the backside to circumvent Glorilla who was still hanging-on gamely past the 1:33.1 third stanza.

Full of pace, and with nowhere to go but to the extreme outside, Switzer charged Whisper Of Luck four-deep around the final turn in an effort to roll clear of the front-end battlers.

Down the short stretch Glorilla has gone the gritty, uncovered trip and was trying valiantly to catch Chasing Dudes under the shadow of the wire.  However, Whisper Of Luck handily brushed past them all to steal the show and prevail by a head in 2:04.

Also owned and bred in Maine by conditioner Marc Tardif, it was the second straight win for the 2-year-old pacing filly, who increased her lifetime earnings to $29,777.  She paid $6.60 to win.

Chasing Dudes hung on to be second; Glorilla finished third.

The Maine Sire Stakes continues with all four divisions of trotters on Saturday (Aug. 31), 3-year-old male pacers on Sunday (Sept. 1), and concludes on Labor Day Monday (Sept. 2) with the sophomore filly pacers.

Walter Case, Jr put on a clinic of sorts at the Windsor Fair on Thursday (August 30), hitting the board in all five of his driving appearances, winning one, while maintaining his posture atop the leaderboard at one of Maine’s preeminent fairground meets.

Case’s lone win came in throwback fashion when he rocketed Premier Joy A (1:56.2-$5.60) off the gate, zinging around the opening bend to the tune of a zippy :28 clip before almost imperceptibly throttling down to reach the half in a more moderate :58.4.

As the competition took chase, Case began to empty the reserve tanks, holding the chasers at bay through a devastating 57.3 back-half while never allowing a competitor to come closer than a two-length margin.

Premier Joy A is partly owned and trained by McKenzie Sowers for co-owner, Robert Stazio. The win was the 40th career score for the veteran son of Somebeachsomewhere.

Case now boasts eight Windsor wins thus far this week, one more than his closest competitor, Aaron Hall. David Ingraham, Joey Mosher, and McGwire Sowers reside in a logjam at third with six wins each.

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

by Chris Tully and Mike Sweeney, for the Windsor Fair