Ranger puts on driving clinic Sunday

Bangor, Maine – Harness racing driver Bruce Ranger powered his way to the top of the leaderboard at Bangor Raceway on Sunday (June 18), putting on a clinic which produced five winners from the nine-race program. Now with 21 wins at the Bangor meeting, Ranger has inched just one win above season-long top dog, Dan Deslandes, who, after a rough day at the races, was shut out in the win category on Sunday.

Ranger wrangled his first win with a late catch-driving assignment behind The Devils Cash (Fearless Diablo) in 1:57.4, paying $13.40 to win for trainer Douglas Beckwith. The win was the second of the season for the Maritime-bred, who has now finished either first or second in each of his last four starts.

THE DEVILS CASH REPLAY

Ranger continued to roll, scoring wins in each of the next two races with River Runs Deep (1:59.4 – $42.60) who lit up the generous Bangor Raceway tote board by keying a robust $1,285.40 trifecta return.

That win was followed in quick succession by a score behind the Stephen Morton trained K D Overdrive (1:58.4 – $11.40) who paraded victoriously for the 40th time in his career. The milestone win was one of two on the card for Morton, whose roster was making its first appearance of the season at the Queen City oval.

Ranger closed out his pentamerous performance with a gate-to-wire tally from the family roster, steering PBR Street Gang (JK Endofanera) in 1:57.1, paying $6.80) to his fourth win of the season. The five-year-old is trained by Ranger’s wife, Mary Ranger.

In other Bangor news, driver Aaron Hall registered two wins on the afternoon program, including a sterling gate-to-wire epic with the 14-year-old, Natural Breeze (Nuclear Breeze) in 2:01.2 and paid $7.00 to win. Owned and trained by Hall’s father, Craig Hall, the win marked the 35th career victory lap.

Trainer Neal Grass remained on the “Who’s Hot” list, solidifying his position in second place on the leaderboard with two more wins on Sunday. Scoring with Brett Mcfarvrelous (2:00.3 – $2.60) and P L Pasquale (1:58.3 – $8.80), the two wins marked the second consecutive victory lap for both lightning hot steeds.

Maine Sire Stakes action returns to Bangor Raceway on Wednesday (June 21) when the three-year-old colt pacing division makes its second appearance of the season. Split into two $15,367 divisions, the Maine-bred youngsters will appear in races 7 and 9 on the betting program, anchoring an extremely strong 12-race card which gets underway at 3:00 p.m. (EDT).

Bangor Raceway proudly presents live harness racing every Wednesday with post time at 3:00 p.m. (EDT) with the popular Sunday matinees getting underway at 12:15 p.m.

For complete race results, click here.

by Mike Sweeney, for Bangor Raceway