Drew Campbell guided Lindas In Heaven to another track-record performance Saturday (Dec. 4) at First Tracks Cumberland.

Rewriting history for the second time in as many weeks and dropping two seconds off the mark from the previous outing, Lindas In Heaven scored in 1:55.3 to capture the $5,500 Open II.

Campbell, the meet’s current leading driver, took the favourite off the gate in the opener from post 4 with no intentions of wrestling the lead from Bruce Ranger and pylon-starter Twin B Jays. Sitting second through relatively comfortable fractions of :27.3 and :58, Campbell rolled with the four-year-old son of Rock N Roll Heaven to the top past the half, extended his lead through to three-quarters in 1:26.2 and cruised home untouched by 4-1/2 lengths. Plus One finished second and Twin B Jays was third.

Trained by Chris Lefebvre and owned by Michelle Lebebvre, Lindas In Heaven collected his 13th victory and his third in a row. He paid $2.80 to win.

The $6,000 Open I division was scratched down to a four-horse field with Airspinder crossing the wire first but being placed second for interference against Beach Watch in the final turn. Captain Nash avoided the fracas and finished third. Beach Watch had Aaron Hall in the sulky and paid $12.20 to win.

The “Greatest Side Show in Maine Harness Racing” began with the fifth race and was the first of three divisions of the Maine Amateur Driving Club (MADC). The $4,000 Group B was captured by Rose Run Slider and driver Alex Richardson, who got up in the final strides to best Winning Chip by a neck in 2:04.1. Rose Run Slider is trained by Mark Harris for owner Gayle Harris and paid $7.60 to win.

The following two MADC events were both won by current point leader Benson Merrill, who had just returned from a Friday (Dec.3) night GSY series victory at the Meadowlands. Merrill scored in the eighth race, a $4,500 MADC Group A, with his own trainee Velocity Sub Z and is the meet’s leading dash winning conditioner. See You Friday finished second and Led Schneppelin was third. Velocity Sub Z paid $8.40 to win in the 2:02.2 mile.

The 10th-race $3,500 MADC Group C saw the Dalton Lee-trained Supreme Mach N give Merrill another trip to the Blue Seal Feeds Winners Circle after winning by 9-3/4 lengths in 2:02. Confusion and contact in the first turn resulted in a host of judges' placings in the order of finish.

As always, the Maine Amateur Driving Club is sponsored by the generous folks at the North Yarmouth Blue Seal Feed Store and the Windham Blue Seal Feed Store, with leadership and support from Aimee Nichols, their gregarious territory sales manager.

Dan Deslandes also enjoyed a driving double on the program. Matty “Ice” Athearn scored with a 48-1 longshot in race seven, which resulted in a $179.80 exacta and $1,181.10 trifecta payout. All source pari-mutuel wagering totaled $104,941 on the day’s program.

Racing resumes Sunday (Dec. 5), with a full program which begins at 11:00 a.m. (EST). The card features three separate classes for open trotters and host of other overnight races and plenty of pari-mutuel activity.

The Winter Festival extended pari-mutuel meeting continues with live harness racing several days each week through Dec. 31.

(First Tracks Cumberland)