The remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole left her mark on the racing surface at First Tracks Cumberland, resulting in soggy conditions for Sunday’s (Nov. 13) harness racing participants. Despite the sloppy going, top trotter Caulfield scored an upset victory to capture the $6,500 featured Open 2 Trot.
Driven by Mike Stevenson, Caulfield was sent off as the 5-1 fourth choice in the five-horse field. Scoring from post two, the 10-year-old son of Kadabra was able to maintain the catbird seat throughout the opening fractions, following second choice Mister Muscle (Walter Case Jr.), who had the debatable advantage of pylon position when the wings folded.
At the start, Broadway Giant was gung ho for the top and managed to cross over to the lead heading to the :29.3 quarter, but then made a break and was forced to regroup back to third position. As the trotters slogged through the heavy conditions, Cherry Crown Jewel (Mark Athearn) was the first to pull just past the quarter pole and into the far turn. The bettors' choice, Favorite Uncle (Cain MacKenzie), who had won last week’s event, followed that cover but then made a costly miscue while second over and moving to the 1:01.3 half.
As the field passed the third panel in 1:32.4, and with Cherry Crown Jewel failing to gain an advantage on the outside, Stevenson was able to sneak Caulfield out of the two-hole going around the final turn and challenge Mister Muscle for the lead. As the trotters swamped the leader in the stretch, Caulfield found some separation and scored in 2:04.4 over the muddy going, winning by a length and a quarter.
Owned by George Tzikas and trained by Bobby Marston, Caulfield earned the 35th win of his career and pushed his lifetime earnings over $475,000.
Caulfield paid $12.20 to win. Broadway Giant finished second and Cherry Crown Jewel was third.
Earlier on the card, Namesmuscle won the $5,800 Open 3-4 Trot for Team Athearn in 2:03 and paid $21 to win. Owned by Bill Phipps and trained by Gretchen Athearn, the 10-year-old son of Muscle Mass went to the top and never looked back for driver Mark Athearn, who managed to stay relatively ‘mud-free’ by cutting the mile. It was the 41st win of the trotter's career. Opsrey Delta (Stevenson) finished second and Little Macabee (Aaron Hall) was third.
Temperatures hovered in the low 50s throughout the day and the judges set an initial two-second allowance due to the wet track, which was elevated to four seconds as the day progressed and the conditions deteriorated. Drew Campbell picked up a driving double on the 12-race card. Bruce Ranger is Cumberland’s leading dash-winning driver of 2022 with 43 victories; Matt Athearn and Walter Case Jr. share the second spot with 39 wins apiece; Kevin Switzer Jr. is fourth with 38 and Drew Campbell rounds out the top five with 37.
(With files from First Tracks Cumberland)