Harrington has clear sailing at Bangor Raceway

Bangor, Maine – The harness racing gods smiled kindly on harness racing driver Andrew Harrington on Sunday (July 10) as the man in blue and red colors dazzled the largest crowd of the season at Bangor Raceway. The 32-year-old catch driver twice paraded victoriously over the course of a ten-race program while factoring in the top three in five out of his seven chances.

Harrington hurried to the forefront early on in the matinee performance, engineering a deep and sustained rally bid behind the Linden Lee owned, It’s Just Numbers (Art Major). The gray raced brave in second-over fashion before pouncing to the lead with a three-wide brush as the front end collapsed under unrelenting pressure at the 3/4-marker. The effort, timed in a seasonal best 1:58.2, earned Harrington his first win of the afternoon while returning a decent $7.60 win ticket to his backers.

Ever the master of versatility, the front end proved the charmed route for Harrington later in the program as Stormyweatherahead (Luckcamotion) romped to his first win of the season timed in a jaunty 1:56.1. Trained by Patty Sumner for owners Leighton Property and Victoria Leighton, the seven-year-old veteran breezed through an effortless 57.4 back-half en route to a handy 3-1/2 length margin at the wire.

In other Bangor news, driver Walter Case Jr joined the hit parade on Sunday, grinding out a 1:56.1 thriller behind the Dakota Jackson trained, Deseronto (Whosurboy) whose career bankroll crept over the $250K mark with the win. Case then traded in finesse for force as he masterfully stacked the field across the raceway in a classic display, discouraging all challengers as Besidetheseaside A (Rocknroll Dance) stopped the clock in a seasonal best 1:55.4 while retuning a generous $12.80 win ticket to the faithful.

Maine Sire Stakes action was also showcased on Sunday at Bangor as the three-year-old trotting divisions took center stage with the front-running strategies proving quite profitable in both stakes’ splits.

Show No Tears (CR Power Glide – Crying Photo), trained and driven by John Nason, took top honors in the $11,986 filly class, earning her first career win while stopping the clock in a smart 2:01 for stalwart state-of-Maine co-owners Carolyn Corso and Diann W Perkins.

Katahadin Mark (Noble Venture – Perpetual Notion) became the boastful boy on Sunday, earning his second stakes win of the year in the $11,739 colt division with driver/trainer Gary Hall handling the lines for longtime state-of-Maine stakes kingpins, Betsey and James Kelly Jr.

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. Simulcast wagering is available Wednesday through Sunday from noon until 7:00 p.m.

For complete race results, click here.

by Mike Sweeney, for Bangor Raceway