Maine’s fresh crop of two-year-old pacing colts and geldings put on a show during the Independence Day card at Cumberland Raceway on Friday, July 4, opening the program with two $15,682 divisions of the Maine Sires Stakes.

In the first division Kevin Switzer Jr. and 1-2 favourite Real Horrorshow sprinted to the lead with authority and pulled the field into a :29.3 opening panel.  Rebels Revenge (Aaron Hall) sat loose in the pocket with Itsjustmoney (Dave Ingraham) tracking along in third.

As Real Horrorshow put the group of green pacers to sleep with a 1:02.4 half, the son of Dudes The Man was able to gain a three-length degree of separation from his followers into the 1:32.4 third stanza.  Silence Ofdarkness (McGwire Sowers) pulled first over with Daytoremember (Heath Campbell) grabbing that cover in the outer flow as the group approached the final turn.

Down the stretch Real Horrorshow had a comfortable margin but Daytoremember had angled three-wide around the final turn and was bearing down on the leader.  The wire arrived with the pacesetter prevailing by 2-3/4 lengths in 2:04, giving Real Horrorshow a new lifetime mark.

Trained by Kevin Switzer Sr. for owners KDK Standardbreds, Kathleen Mofield and Anthony Sivik Jr., Real Horrorshow paid $3.00 to win in his pari-mutuel debut.

‘Horrorshow’ is the phonetic spelling of ‘good’ in the language of Nadset, which was the dialect spoken in the 1971 cult classic film Clockwork Orange.  Real Horrorshow is from breeder Luke and Patricia Varnun's Yankee Cruiser mare Pretty Eyes p,3,1:51.4 ($96,242) and is considered one of their favourite horses.

In the second $15,682 division, Dudes The Jet (Sowers) forged onto the lead as expected, but not before some heavy lifting to get past Nuh Uh (Hall) and Quint Asper (Andrew Harrington) who had strategically protected their inside positions.

Dudes The Jet finally grabbed command past the :29.3 opening panel, with Quint Asper enjoying a pocket trip and Nuh Uh sitting third.  As the field approached the 1:01.1 half mile marker, Switzer Jr. began his march forward with Ghost Of Winter, who had been trailing the field.

Past the 1:31.2 third station Dudes The Jet enjoyed a comfortable margin but the challenge of Ghost Of Winter was short-lived allowing Nuh Uh to squeeze off the pylons and take it to the pacesetter.

The pair of freshmen pacers fought tooth and nail down the stretch with Nuh Uh having the momentum and the trip to upend the leader and prevail by three parts of a length in 2:03.1. Dudes The Jet finished second; Quint Asper was third.

Owned and trained by Marc Tardif, Nuh Uh (pictured above) earned a new lifetime mark in his first pari-mutuel victory. The son of Deuce Seelster, bred in Maine by Gary and Kristina Hall, paid a handsome $16.60 to win. 

Due to heavy rain last Saturday, a host of late closing series finals and consolations, were postponed and rescheduled for this week.  The purses up for grabs on Saturday, July 5 add up to $148,649 over the 12-race card, which starts at the regular time of 3:15 p.m.

(with files from First Tracks Cumberland)