As the curtain comes down on the 32-day spring/summer extended pari-mutuel meeting at First Tracks Cumberland, many of New England’s top pacers and trotters will be looking for one final victory on Friday (July 22) and Saturday (July 23), the final two days of the meet.
The mare who has consistently man-handled the male pacers is Rys Red Rocket and she will be looking for her second consecutive victory in the $6,000 Open 3 on Friday (July 22). Rys Red Rocket has been installed as the 5-2 morning line early favourite in the opener.
Scoring from post five, the five-year-old daughter of Sunshine Beach has already earned $19,469 in 12 seasonal starts with four wins and five seconds to her credit for trainer/owner Donnie Richards. With regular driver Matty “Ice” Athearn aboard once again, and given the hot temperatures forecast for this weekend, it is not unlikely that Rys Red Rocket could meet or beat her 1:54.2 track record performance from May 28.
Just inside her is Rocksapatriot (3-1), a former track record holder, who will be driven by “Double Digit” Dave Ingraham for trainer/partner Kelly Case. The seven-year-old son of Rockincam has $21,438 on his card this year and has been 10 times 1-2-3 in 17 starts.
Nagle (post three, 7-2) is trained and driven by Dan Deslandes and has been knocking on the door for weeks and could shake loose and shake things up a bit.
Friday’s card has a total of 10 races on the program, and one early non-betting race, which includes an $11,703 leg of the Maine Standardbred Breeders Stakes for two-year-old pacing fillies.
Racing continues on Saturday with 10 races on the wagering card, including a $6,000 Open 2-3 Trot featuring a track-hopping visit by Plainridge invader Make It A Double (post five, 3-1). The seven-year-old son of Donato Hanover drops down in class for trainer Gretchen Athearn and driver/partner Mark Athearn.
Another horse looking for a nice going-away present in Race 5 is Vesuvio Bi (post four, 5-2), an eight-year-old son of Manofmanymissions who beat this bunch last week in 1:58. He is trained by Joseph Nelson and gets the services of top driver Bruce Ranger.
In addition, Saturday’s card also features a $3,800 leg of the Maine Amateur Driving Club (MADC, Race 6) sponsored by Blue Seal Feeds. A full field of seven enter the fray and will be looking for bragging rights going into the fair season.
Leading MADC teamster Jason Bertonlini will hook his trusty steed Led Schneppelin (post six, 7-2) to his shiny, new race bike for a shot at the seasonal title. Only a repeat performance by last week’s victor Alex Richardson could unseat Bertolini from his lofty perch. Richardson drives Our Royal Majesty (post two, 5-1) and looks for two in a row.
There will also be a pair of non-betting races, starting at 3 p.m., featuring the two $11,000+ divisions of the Maine Breeders Stakes for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings, featuring the Tardif Taskforce of unbeaten babies Luke McGook and Twice The Ice.
The final race on both Friday and Saturday features our 20-cent Hi-Five (Pentafecta), with a low takeout of 16 per cent.
(First Tracks Cumberland)