Bangor Raceway to open Fall meeting with Maine Sire Stakes Championships

Bangor, Maine …. Following a month-long fairground frolic, Maine’s harness racing circuit will once again transition to commercial track status with Bangor Raceway set to launch its much anticipated extended fall meet beginning on Wednesday, October 8.

Post time for Wednesday’s premier performance will be at 3:00 pm (EDT), with the same 3:00 post time assigned to Saturday’s (October 11) card when Bangor Raceway will play host to the $400,000 Maine Sire Stakes Final for the three-year-old divisions.

A total of four, $100,000 (est) championship bouts will be carded for the sophomore stakes set on Saturday. The quartet of contests will be headlined, perhaps, by the Marc Tardif trained, Massive Speed’s attempt to cap off a near unprecedented undefeated Maine Sire Stakes career when he bids to grab top honors in his 21st consecutive Maine Sire Stakes appearance.

Saturday’s undercard will feature the $25,000 renewal of the Fred Nichols Memorial Invitational which will be certain to attract many of New England’s fleetest foes, much as it did in 2024 when the Maine-bred, So Rock N’ Roll, speed to a divisional track record of 1:53 with driver Bruce Ranger charting the course.

The races on Championship Saturday will be broadcast live on the vast radio and online networks of MixMaineMedia (centralmainesports.com). The festivities and broadcast will be emceed by local radio personality, Mike Violette, who will be conducting the popular harness racing trivia segments following every race, affording fans the opportunity to win Bangor Raceway betting vouchers and branded Hollywood Casino and Raceway merchandise.

Live harness racing continue on Sunday (October 12) with a 12:10 pm post time, and after opening week, will be featured on a three day per week schedule in October with 3:00 pm (EDT) post times for the Wednesday twilight cards and with 12:10 pm starting times for the Saturday and Sunday matinees.

In other Bangor news, and of particular interest to the horsemen and horsewomen competing at the Queen City Oval this autumn, the draw schedule has been slightly modified. The Sunday and Wednesday cards will continue to be drawn utilizing the traditional three-day-box but the Saturday cards will now be drawn on Tuesday with the box closing at 12 noon. This draw schedule goes into effect immediately.

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 (http://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 (http://www.hollywoodcasinobangor.com/).

by Mike Sweeney for Bangor Raceway