Cigars And Port, sloppy track, no problem

CUMBERLAND, ME – Harness racing driver Wally Watson put Cigars And Port (So Surreal) on the front end, avoiding any additional flying mud, and carried the field wire-to-wire to capture the $6,500 Open 2 Pace on a soggy Saturday (Dec. 3) at First Tracks Cumberland.

Scoring from post three Watson sent the 5-eyar-old out to the front on the rain-soaked surface and set comfortable fractions of 30.3 and 1:01.2 for the opening panels.  Sitting confidently in command with little pressing outer flow, Watson tripped the third panel timer in 1:30.1 and was on top by two at the head of the stretch.

Rocksapatriot (Dave Ingraham) made a last-ditch effort to catch the tempo commander but fell short by a nose at the wire in 1:59.1.  The public’s choice Adriano Hanover (Kevin Switzer Jr.) finished third.

Cigars And Port is trained by Lisa Watson and owned by Fox Ridge Stable and Wally Watson and paid $9.20 to win.  It was the sixth win of the season for the locally stabled, Steve Jones-bred Cigars And Port, whose last hometown victory was the Cumberland Invitational during Fair week.

CIGARS AND PORT REPLAY

The opener, a $6,000 Open 3 Pace, was captured by Ron Cushing’s Something Bettor A (Bettor’s Delight) in a swift 1:57.1.  Just the third pari-mutuel start for the recent down under import, the 5-year-old was assigned post six by earnings.  Cushing took off the gate and came first over at the half and wore down the leaders to win by a neck over Tim McMiki (Matt Athern) and Oceanview Echo (Walter Case Jr.).

Something Bettor A is trained by Heidi Gibbs, owned by Ron Cushing and Kevin Sywyk, and picked up his second North American victory of the season, and fifth overall.  He paid $5.80 to win and was the favorite.

SOMETHING BETTOR A REPLAY

Two $5,000 elimination legs of the Polar Express Late Closing series # 2 were won by Rojas Blue Chip (Mike Stevenson, $16.40) and Bailey’s Legacy (Nick Graffam, $19.20).

Nick Graffam hit a grand slam of victories in the twelve races of sloppy going.  Aaron Hall won the final two events on the program.

Sunday’s (Dec. 4) card features four $6,000 divisions of the Polar Express L/C # 3 highlight the twelve-race card, with an additional $6,500 Open 2 Trot to start things off.   Broadway Giant (5-2, Bruce Ranger) looks to repeat in the opener against this southern Maine Open trotting group, with several Plainridge invaders looking for some easier pickings.

In the four Polar Express # 3 elimination legs, Outspoken Man (race 2, Bruce Ranger), Kick The Dirt Up (race 4, Matt Athearn), Nets of Passion (race 6, Dave Ingraham), and Sweet Sally Sue (race 8, Kevin Switzer Jr.) are the early morning line favorites.  The Polar Express # 3 final goes for $15,000 on Dec. 18.

Every race, all weekend long, has a 50-cent Trifecta, and the final race each day also features a 20-cent Pentafecta.

Our extended pari-mutuel harness racing meet runs through December 24, 2022, with the first post at 11 am each day.

For more information go to our website.

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For complete race results, click here.

by Chris Tully, for First Tracks Cumberland