Pacers close out Farmington Fair meet

FARMINGTON, ME – Two $14,000-plus divisions of the Maine Sire Stakes for 3-year-old male pacers closed out the harness racing meet at the Farmington Fair on Wednesday (Sept. 20), with a couple of the usual suspects finding the winners circle once again.

In the first and fastest $14,692 split Colt Bennett (Rock N’ Roll World) came from off the pace to win his fourth race of the year in 1:58.

When the wings folded Mattucci (Heath Campbell-Valerie Grondin) fought for command from pylon position and led the field into a :29.1 opening panel.  As the field passed the stands for the first time going to the half, Mattucci was well in control of the tempo, having set a comfortable :59.1 second quarter.

Walter Case Jr. ranged So Rock N’ Roll up first over and had collared the pacesetter by the third stanza in a snappy 1:28.4.  The Marc Tardif-trained recent winner was on top at the head of the stretch, with a seemingly comfortable margin.

However, ‘Double Digit’ Dave Ingraham had other ideas and unleashed a torrid burst of speed with Colt Bennett to chase down the leader and prevail by a quarter length.  Trained by David Crochere for owner Nancy Lombardi, it was the :28.4 final quarter that sealed the deal for the connections and gave Colt Bennett his fourth win of the season.  He was bred by Steve O’Toole.

Anithingforyoudear (Dan Deslandes-Marc Tardif) finished third.

Luke McGook (Rock N’ Roll World) redeemed his recent second place finishes to get back to winner’s circle following an interrupted seven-race win streak.

Driven by Kevin Switzer Jr. for trainer Marc Tardif, Luke McGook left little doubt about his intentions when the wings folded as he assumed his favorite position on the front end.

From that point Swizter set moderate fractions of :30.1; 1:02.1 and 1:32.3 while Two Towns Over (Aaron Hall-Valerie Grondin) maintained a tight pocket in anticipation of any diminishing pace.  Rockaroundsam (Case Jr.-Tardif) came first over and got to within a half-length of the pacesetter at the third panel.

Nonetheless, Switzer found another gear with Luke McGook and the gelding responded with a :28.2 final quarter to prevail by half a length in 2:01.

Town Towns Over finished second; Rockaroundsam was third.

Luke McGook is owned by Leighton Property and picked up his eighth seasonal victory.  Bred in Maine by Erika Saucier, he now has over $207,000 in lifetime earnings.

The Maine-sired Standardbreds invade the Cumberland Fair with the trotters on Wed. (Sept. 27), the sophomore pacers on Friday (Sept. 29), and the $240,000 (est.) freshman finals on Saturday (Sept. 30).

For more information about the Maine Sire Stakes, follow their Facebook page @MaineBreedersAssociation, or go to their website:  https://www.mainesirestakes.com.

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

by Chris Tully, for the Maine Sire Stakes