Good day for gold and red at Bangor

Bangor, Maine … The red and gold harness racing colors of Bruce Ranger and Nick Graffam brightened an otherwise gloomy day on Sunday (6-4) as the accomplished cousins courageously cavorted over the muddy surface at Bangor Raceway.

Ranger kicked off a three-win day by guiding Little Macabee (2:03, $7.00) to his third consecutive victory for trainer Eric Bickmore. The nine-year-old son of Chapter Seven, who continues to perform at a lifetime peak, has now finished either first or second in all seven of his seasonal starts.

As the rains continued and track conditions were downgraded, trainer Richard Allaby’s roster came to the forefront to provide the power for Ranger to complete his hat trick. Steering clear of the muddy splash back with stablemates Rose Run Yanna (2:04.3, $3.00) and The Shining (2:01.1, $2.40), Ranger successfully utilized a gate-to-wire and then a first-over strategy respectively to chart the winning path.

Ranger’s cousin, Nick Graffam, closed out the ten-race program with a pair of convincing wins, nailing both halves of the late Daily Double which generated a hefty $324 return at the mutuel windows for his backers.

Both of Graffam’s wins came in front-running style, gliding over the gooey-going with a pair of entries from the Neal Grass roster. American Flight (2:06.1, $2.60) gamboled to the wire while scoring his second win in a row while stablemate, Golden Tree (2:04.4, $29.80), coasted to a 5-1/2 length margin in the finale.

In other Bangor news, driver Heath Campbell joined the multi-win hit parade on Sunday with three wins of his own, two of which came from the Valerie Grondin stable.

Bangor Raceway proudly features live harness racing every Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. (EDT) with the popular Sunday matinees getting underway at 12:15 p.m.

For complete race results, click here.

by Mike Sweeney, for Bangor Raceway