Two unbeaten stars in $300,000 finals

CUMBERLAND, ME – Maine’s $300,000-plus 2-year-old finals witnessed two unbeaten harness racing youngsters remain as such, with a few surprises in the other divisions Saturday (Sept. 28) on the closing day of the 152^nd Cumberland Fair.

Champion colt Whatawonder cruised to an easy victory in his $75,753 Maine Sire Stakes final for freshmen male trotters.  Leaving from the outer most post position six, driver Ken Watson wasted no time to get his talented charge to the top.

Dropping a 29.4 opening panel, which was his fastest ever, the gelding proceeded to carry his four-length advantage through the remaining splits of 1:01.3 and 1:31.3.  Looking stronger with every stride, the son of Whataworkout strode home in 2:02.4, a new lifetime best and a track record.

Owned and bred by Barbara Lawson, it was Whatawonder’s tenth straight victory, paying $3.40.  He is trained by Lisa Watson.

Liberty’s Wildcard (Kevin Switzer Jr.) finished second; stable mate Katahdin Victor (Wally Watson) was third.

WHATAWONDER REPLAY

In the $76,023 Maine Sire Stakes final for 2-year-old male pacers, the heavy 2-5 favorite Massive Speed did not disappoint.

Thrusting out from behind the starting car driver Walter Case Jr. smartly let early speedster Race Me Celtic (Drew Campbell) assume command, albeit briefly.  A give-and-go release gave Massive Speed the top again just past the 27.4 swift opening panel.

At the 58.4 half-mile marker a cavalry charge of sidesteppers were stacked up three high as they passed the stands the second time, with Jax Attack (Aaron Hall) first over and Gracies Tough Guy (Dave Ingraham) applying pressure alongside three wide.

While Massive Speed was on top by three at the 1:28 third stanza, Race Me Celtic was gapping his cover in the pocket with Gracies Tough Guy now first over and looking to duck to the pylons.

As the field turned for home, Massive Speed had gained considerable separation on the rest of the field.  Only Gracies Tough Guy had stayed within two lengths of the son of Dude’s The Man, as Case held his whip high while crossing the wire and broke the divisional track record with the 1:58.2 triumph.

MASSIVE SPEED REPLAY

Trained by Marc Tardif for owner Leighton Property, it was the tenth consecutive victory for Massive Speed, who was bred in Maine by Laurie Harding.  He paid $2.80 to win.

Race Me Celtic finished third.

Little Shot took a big shot and prevailed in the $75,916 final for 2-year-old trotting fillies.  Driven by conditioner and co-owner Ivan Davies, the daughter of Noble Venture was sent right out for the lead from their pylon position at the start, and proceeded to make every call a winning one.

Tripping the timer in 2:04.1, Little Shot was the second choice on the board and paid $7.40 to win her second race of the season.  Also co-owned by Shirley Hutchins, she was bred by Dr. Douglass Hutchins and Paul Kinnear.

Barbella (Bruce Ranger) finished second; Race Me Bombshell (Drew Campbell) was third.

For the $75,821 Maine Sire Stakes final for freshman pacing fillies, it was Leanne Marie that crossed the wire first for driver Mike Cushing.  However, the judges determined that Leanne Marie interfered with Chasing Dudes (Nick Graffam) in mid-stretch, therefore the latter was declared the winner, with the former being placed second.

Chasing Dudes, a daughter of Dude’s The Man, is trained by Mike Graffam for owner-breeder Bob Marston and paid $7.80 to win.

Audry (Steve Wilson) finished third.

The day’s fastest race was the $10,000 Winners Over class, where Lifes A Puzzle triumphed for driver Kevin Switzer Jr. in 1:54.4.  Trained by Alison Hynes for owner Richard Humphrey, the 4-year-old son of Lazarus N is another successful graduate of the Gordon Corey Institute of Equine Erudition.

The day also witnessed a plethora of $10,000 pop up series finals which were well received by the large crowd of fans and bettors on hand for the final day of the fair.

The Sunday (Sept. 29) card has a special post time of 10:55 am for that final racing date.

After the fair, the track’s 19-day Winter Festival begins November 2 and follows a 2-day Saturday-Sunday schedule throughout the month of November.  The month of December picks up Fridays for 3-day weekends of racing through December 22.  Our popular Au Revoir Retirement Ceremonies are slated for Dec. 21.

For additional information, visit our website at firsttrackscumberland.com, or find us on social media.

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

by Chris Tully, for First Tracks Cumberland