Rockn My Boxers front and center

Bangor, Maine …. Rockn My Boxers (1:58.2-$5.00) hung the harness racing competition out to dry at Bangor Raceway on Sunday (June 29), gliding gate-to-wire for driver Aaron Hall, while providing one of two wins on the program for the Maine-native teamster.

The four-year-old son of Pet Rock who is trained by Benson Merrill for owner Courtney Cousineau, controlled the tempo artfully after springing from the gate and gliding through identical :59.1 halves, all while wrangling his second win of the year in a seasonal best clocking.

ROCKN MY BOXERS REPLAY

The win was one of two on the program for trainer Merrill, who earlier on the card scored with Common Discourtesy (McGwire Sowers). The two wins elevated Merrill into a three way tie atop the Bangor Raceway conditioners standings where he joined Neil Grass and Autym Sowers with 14 seasonal wins each.

Hall’s other driving win came from his own, well-heeled roster when LA Always Amartini (1:57.2-$3.60) took a seasonal mark while scoring his second win of  the year. Roaring home through a :58.2 back-half after cutting the mile to a :59 opening half, the win marked the 28th career bow for the ten-year-old veteran mare who is owned by Fox Racing Inc. of New York.

In other Bangor news, McGwire Sowers, Kevin Switzer, Jr, and Drew Campbell all joined Hall in recording driving doubles on Sunday while trainer Marc Tardif equaled Merrill’s two top training tallies, sweeping both divisions of the Maine Sire Stakes action for three-year-old colts which were raced on an early non-betting card after being transferred to Bangor Raceway following First Tracks Cumberland’s cancellation due to rain the day prior.

Maine Sire Stakes action returns to Bangor Raceway on Wednesday (July 2) when two divisions of three-year-old filly pacers will match strides for purses of $11,926 each. The lucrative stakes will headline a competitive twelve-race program on Wednesday with post time slated for 3:00 p.m. (EDT).

Bangor Raceway will showcase live harness racing throughout the mid-summer season, featuring sessions on Wednesday afternoons with a 3:00 pm post time, and the popular Sunday matinees going to post at 12:10 pm.

For those not able to come to the track, wagering and live video for Bangor Raceway, as well as hundreds of harness and thoroughbred racetracks across the world, is available on Hollywood Races at www.hollywoodraces.com.

For complete information regarding live racing, simulcast wagering, gaming, dining, and hotel accommodations at Bangor’s Hollywood Casino and Raceway, please visit the website at www.hollywoodcasinobangor.com.

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

by Mike Sweeney, for Bangor Raceway