Use Yah Blinkah snags second straight in MSBS

CUMBERLAND, ME – Maine-sired 3-year-old male pacers, otherwise known as the ‘Glamour Boys’ division, closed out the week of pari-mutuel harness racing at the Topsham Fair, with Use Yah Blinkah (Western Maverick) making it two-in-a-row for driver Heath Campbell and trainer Valerie Grondin.

The gelding took a new mark of 1:57 on Aug. 3 at Bangor, and came right back to win the $18,002 Maine Breeders Stakes (MSBS) 3yo colt and gelding pace at Topsham on Saturday (Aug. 13) in 2:00.2.

Scoring from post two in the early non-wagering event, Campbell was happy to let series point leader Deal With It Roman (Kevin Switzer Jr. / Marc Tardif) set the pace through tidy fractions of 30 & 101.  Heading into a 1:30.3 third panel, Campbell signaled his intentions to the rest of the field and pulled first over going down the backside for the final time.

CBF Squirt Gun (Nick Graffam / David Crochere) joined the fray and swarmed the leader going down the home stretch.  At the wire it was Use Yah Blinkah who emerged victorious, holding off CBF Squirt Gun by a head.  Deal With It Roman finished third by a neck.

Use Yah Blinkah was bred and is still owned by David Thibault, Paul Vacca, Ed Nowak Jr. and Jim Hardy and picked up his third victory of the season.

In the second $18,227 MSBS (3CP) division Ugotaearnyrstripes (Deuce Seelster) came from off the pace to earn his second victory of the season.

Driven by ‘Double-Digit’ Dave Ingraham for trainer Steve LaCasse, the he got away fourth from post two and sat comfortably while favorite Bandolito Blaze (Heath Campbell / Valerie Grondin) did all the heavy lifting.

Not unlike his predecessor, Ingraham pulled Ugotaearnyrstripes going to the three-quarter pole and got up in the final strides to win by three parts of a length in 2:00.3.

Like his Pompano nickname implies, ‘Double-Digit’ Dave Ingraham and Ugotaearnyrstripes paid $16.20 for a $2 win ticket.

Owned and bred by Edward Blash, it was the seventh career victory for Ugotaearnyrstripes.  Bandolito Blaze hung on for second; Ranaldi (Ron Cushing / Heidi Gibbs) was third.

On Thursday (Aug. 11) at Topsham, Wolverina (Baron Biltmore, Aaron Hall / Mike Graffam) took her $18,211 three-year-old filly pace in 2:02.4.  The daughter of Cheyenne Hollywood was also bred by Mike Graffam and is now owned in partnership along with Bill Arnold.  She paid $2.60 to win.

In the second $18,436 MSBS division, Pembroke Legacy (Baron Biltmore) continued her dominance over the ‘Glamour Girls’ with her sixth stakes victory of the season, having never lost a Maine-sire event all year.  In this instance, it was a comfortable cruise around the Topsham oval in 2:02.1 for driver Heath Campbell, scoring by 3-3/4 lengths.

Trained by Valerie Grondin for owner/breeder Bill Varney, the filly now has $145,505 in lifetime earnings.

No grass grows under the feet of the participants of the Maine Breeders Stakes, as the action moves directly to Skowhegan on Sunday (Aug. 14) and races through August 20.

Sunday’s Skowhegan Fair card enjoys four events for Maine-bred trotters.  The day starts with an MSBS non-betting race for 2-year-old trotting fillies, vying for a purse of $17,709, with a second NB $18,736 MSBS event for 3-year-old trotting fillies.

The regular card opens with an $18,489 MSBS for 3-year-old trotting colts and geldings and race three carries the $18,214 MSBS for 2-year-old colts and geldings.

The remaining MSBS fair schedule is as follows:

Windsor, Aug. 27 – Sept. 5

Farmington, Sept. 18 – 21

Cumberland, Sept. 28 – Oct. 1 (2yo finals)

Fryeburg, Oct 6 – 8

The Maine-sired sophomore finale returns to Bangor for all of the 3-year-old MSBS divisional finals on Oct. 15.  The 2-year-old championships will be held two weeks earlier on Saturday (Oct. 1) at the Cumberland Fair.

For more information about the Maine Standardbred Breeders Stakes, follow our facebook page @MaineBreedersAssociation, or go to the Maine State website.

For complete Thursday race results, click here.

For complete non-wagering race results, click here.

For complete pari-mutuel race results, click here.

by Chris Tully, for the Maine Breeders Stakes