Three times is a charm for trotter Caulfield, as the classy campaigner turned in the fastest trotting mile of the season Saturday (May 22) at Cumberland Raceway, winning the $6,000 Winners Over Trot in 1:59.2.
Driven by Mike Stevenson for trainer Bob Marston, the nine-year-old son of Kadabra was in command the entire mile, throwing in a :29.3 last quarter to seal the deal and win his third start in a row in Maine. Owned by George Tzikas, Caulfield now has 25 wins and $375,311 lifetime. In fact, the ‘honest trotter’ has won every start this season that has been held in the Pine Tree State, enjoying four victories in his last five starts overall.
Caulfield paid $3.60 to win, and took a new seasonal mark on the half-mile track at Cumberland.
Opening the card, Maine harness racing legend Donnie Richards got his first win of the meet with his own trotter Wind Current. The five-year-old Maine-bred son of Current Cast, from the Muscles Yankee mare Flourescent, won the $4,500 conditioned trot in 2:01.2, a new seasonal mark.
The 88-year-old trainer is approaching 1,000 wins lifetime, with $3.8 million in earnings. Richards now enjoys a .472 UTR at the Southern Maine oval.
Wind Current was driven by Mark Athearn, bred by Tom Dillion, and paid $15.00 to win.
On the pacing side, the fastest mile of the day was clocked by Bet You, taking a $4,500 conditioned pace in 1:55.2. Bet down to 10 cents on the dollar, the fast son of Bettors Delight showed the punters several miles paced in 1:52 or faster at Plainridge to warrant such attention. Driven by Kevin Switzer Jr. for trainer Joe Nelson and owner Scott Dillon, the nine-year-old winner of over $575,000 appeared to find the Cumberland surface to his liking. Bet You was bred by Hanover Shoe Farms and paid $2.20 to win.
Both Bruce Ranger and Kevin Switzer Jr. had driving doubles on the Saturday card. Ben Merrill added a win to his total, keeping him one step ahead of Karl Butterfield in the trainers' standings with six and five, respectively. In fact, 28 different trainers have won at least one race at First Tracks Cumberland after six race dates.
Racing from Cumberland is presented live each Tuesday and Saturday, through July 31, with a new post time of 2:30 p.m.
(First Tracks Cumberland)