Capacity crowd honors Leigh Fitch at Cumberland

CUMBERLAND, ME – Family, friends and fans of legendary Maine harness racing driver Leigh Fitch swarmed the home stretch at Cumberland Raceway on Saturday (Nov. 9) following the $7,592 eponymous memorial race at the iconic Southern oval.

The Leigh Fitch Memorial, a ‘winners over’ pace, was captured by 1-5 favorite Hespoisedtopounce and driver Aaron Hall.  Winning handily in 1:57.1 by 4-1/2 lengths, the 8-year-old son of Bettor’s Delight is trained by Jimmy Nickerson for owners Tim Bojarski and Tony Gruppo.  He paid $2.60 while picking up his sixth win of the season.  For reinsman Hall, it was his fourth win on the program.

Following the race, observers noted that at least two hundred well-wishers and Maine horse people flowed through the apron and spilled onto the track to pay tribute to ‘The Fox’ who passed away on Oct. 26 at the age of 79.  The crowd surrounded Stacey Lord Fitch and the couple’s grown children, while Christian Harness Horsemen’s Association Chaplain Lee Alphen made the presentation.

The program included memories of Fitch, as journalist Jay Burns wrote, “his daring, rail-hugging driving style propelled him to 7,592 victories and more than anyone’s share of driving spills during a 53-year career. Fitch was one of the first great catch drivers in Maine, emerging a few years before Billy Parker Jr.”

Burns continued, “But speed and the front end were not what made Fitch famous in Maine. Instead, his style was iconoclastic, in keeping with his personality: independent, stubborn, and cagey. ‘I didn’t want to be like the others. I wanted to be myself.’ At a time when the perfect drive was the gentlemanly second-over trip described by Billy Haughton in the harness racing manual Care and Training of the Trotter and Pacer, Fitch’s insurgent style disrupted that model, gaining him the nickname ‘The Fox.’ Rarely flushed off the rail, Fitch instead was often a rail skimmer who mastered the art of anticipating the opening of a seam late in the mile, using athletic reflexes and exquisite timing to feed his horse open racetrack. Fitch once said that ‘winning was life or death for me,’ and his driving style, safe but daring, meant brushes with the latter. It was the era of the wooden hub rail, and any driver working the inside late in the mile needed steely nerves.”

Racing continues on Sunday (Nov. 10) with another 10-race card of full fields.

First Tracks Cumberland’s Winter Festival extended pari-mutuel meeting enjoys weekend action throughout the month of November.  Then, Cumberland Raceway will transition to three days of harness racing each week (Fri-Sat-Sun) beginning December 6.  The 19-day meet continues through Dec. 22, 2024, and post time is always 10:55 am.

For more information go to our website: firsttrackscumberland.com, or find us on Facebook: @FirstTracksCumberland

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

by Chris Tully, for First Tracks Cumberland