Rose Run Xander zipped to a seasonal best score in the $6,849 featured conditioned trot on Friday, June 13 at First Tracks Cumberland.

Driver Walter Case, Jr. wasted little time moving the rangy six-year-old son of Triumphant Caviar to the lead, springing from post five and grabbing the point in a :29 opening panel.  From that point the duo had things their own way, doubling their separation with the rest of the field at each and every stanza.

Following a :59.1 half while up by 2-1/2, Case and ‘Xander’ hit the third quarter in 1:28.1 and were now on top by four, and looking for more.  By the head of the stretch charter Andrew Topham listed the pacesetter as leading the pack by six lengths, and by the time they hit the wire in 1:59.4, they were officially listed as 8-1/4 length victors.

Owned by Stan Whittemore and trained by Benson Merrill, Rose Run Xander now has 14 lifetime victories and a career bankroll of $160,838. As the 1-2 heavy favourite, he paid $3.00 to win his second race of the year.

Maplewood Slugger (John Nason) finished second; Dynamical Tad (Dave Ingraham) was third.

For Case, this was the middle score in his three-bagger on the afternoon.  He had previously won with Big Plan Stan (1:57.3, $3.00) for trainer Kevin Switzer Sr., and followed up the feature romp with a win aboard Sunnys Rebel (2:01.3, $3.20), which was another training win for Benson Merrill.

Todd Whitney took sole command of second place in the Maine Amateur Driving Club (MADC) series with his wire-to-wire steer of Rise N Grind in the $5,479 finale.  Leaving from post five Whitney — a former national amateur driving champion — hit the top and never looked back, tripping the timer in 1:55.4, which was the fastest MADC event in recent memory.

 Whitney paid $4.00 with A four-year-old son of Up The Credit, Rise N Grind is owned and trained by Dennis Whittemore. He returned $4 to win.

Aitnobetter (Jonathan Bresnahan) finished second; Rockaholic (Derek Howes) was third.  The MADC is sponsored by the Blue Seal Feed Stores of North Yarmouth and Windham, Maine.

Racing continues on Saturday, June 14 with 10 races, including a pair of  Maine Sire Stakes events for three-year-old pacing fillies, as well as eight individual legs of its lucrative Late Closing series.

(with files from First Tracks Cumberland)