Maine’s freshmen filly pacers closed out the Topsham Fair on Saturday, Aug. 9 with two $15,000-plus divisions held before the regular card.

In the first $15,922 division of the Maine Sire Stakes for two-year-old pacing fillies, the unbeaten Snowonthepines continued her blizzard of authority in a seemingly effortless romp.

Driver Kevin Switzer Jr. took the filly off the gate and settled into third position as Nick Graffam sent Shes A Firefly out to an early lead with a :30.3 opening panel.  Heading into a leisurely 1:02.2 half, Dave Ingraham tipped Graceofspaces into the outer flow from fifth in an effort to improve his position.

Heading to the three-quarter pole Switzer pulled the right line and got to the flank of the pacesetter while they breezed through that marker in 1:33.1.  By the head of the stretch Snowonthepines had taken command and continued to gain separation on the rest of the field.

Tripping the timer in 2:03.2 by a comfortable 2-1/2 length margin, the daughter of Dudes The Man won her fourth consecutive stakes race. Trained by Marc Tardif for owner/breeder Leighton Property, the aspiring star has earned $31,615 this season.

Perfectly Lovely (Aaron Hall) got up to be second; Shes A Firefly hung on for third.

In the $16,163 division Nick Graffam went from nearly last to first to give his family’s homebred Ekorus her first lifetime victory.

When the wings folded Heymickeyyousofine (John Nason) must have thought it was the 1980’s and boogied right to the top.

Heymickeyyousofine set opening fractions of :30.3 and 1:02.2, with McKenna Jeanne (Heath Campbell) sitting in the pocket second.  It was not until the second circuit that the outer flow had developed with Dudelookslikeafily (Switzer Jr.) first over at the 1:33.4 and threatened with a short-lived lead.

While Heymickeyyousofine and Dudelookslikeafily were busy having a dance-off on the front end, Graffam had swung Ekorus off the turn. When the dust settled it was the daughter of Cheyenne Hollywood who had prevailed in 2:04.2, scoring by 2-1/4 lengths. McKenna Jeanne finished second; Dudelookslikeafily was third.

Ekorus is trained, bred and co-owned by Mike Graffam with partners Bill Arnold and Martha Holden.

Right on schedule, the Maine Sire Stakes express makes its next stop on the fair circuit in Skowhegan, with the freshman pacing colts on Monday (Aug. 11) and sophomore filly pacers on Tuesday (Aug. 12).  The glamour boys division arrives on Thursday (Aug. 14), followed by all the two- and three-year old trotters on Friday (Aug. 15), and dispatches the week with these same two-year-old filly pacers at Skowhegan on Saturday (Aug. 16).

Driver Bruce Ranger provided the exclamation point to an exciting week of racing as the 171st meeting at the Topsham Fair came to a successful conclusion on Saturday, taking top honours in the annual $8,904 Topsham Fair Open.

Ranger maneuvered So Rock N Roll to break fourth from the second tier as the open field fanned off the gate, setting up camp immediately behind the post time favourite, Always A Miki (Nick Graffam), as the entire field acquiesced to the uber-classy Always At My Place (Kevin Switzer, Jr).

Once clear to the lead, Switzer conjured deviously soft fractions for this class of horse, allowed to the quarter in a pedestrian :29.1 before shrugging off eventual pressure from Always A Miki and So Rock N Roll, while strolling to the half in a tepid 1:00.1.

“It was a confusing race” Ranger remarked, “I think we were all caught off guard by the slow pace up front. I tried to flush Always A Miki but Miki refused to be flushed. Just as I was resigning to a first-over trip, he finally flushed and carried me effectively into the last turn.”

The tempo quickened into a more respectable :58 back-half as the 14-year-old millionaire pacer, Always At My Place, dug in on the lead. But the outer flow proved an overwhelming obstacle as So Rock N Roll slingshotted off the final turn to eke out the half-length victory over Always A Miki and Call Me Maverick (Michael Stevenson) who rallied for third.

Always At My Place reluctantly finished fourth in a four-way photo.

“We got the win; it wasn’t pretty the way the race set up but he certainly raced better today,” Ranger concluded. “ We’re having a challenge getting him back to the form where he won 13 races last year but he’s getting there.”

A five-year-old Maine-bred son of Western Maverick, So Rock N Roll paid $18.80 to win while scoring the 1:58.1 victory for trainer Benson Merrill and owner Leighton Property. The win was his 28th from 65 career starts.

In other Topsham news, Coach Cutsinger (Nick Graffam) recorded the fastest mile of the 2025 meeting, taking the Saturday finale in a brisk 1:56.1 for trainer Randy Bickmore and owner Kevin Gee. And in a testament to the expert track conditions at the Topsham fairground oval, all nine of Saturday’s pari-mutuel races went in 1:59.1 or faster.

Kevin Switzer, Jr, who was held to only one win on Saturday after scoring three consecutive driving triples to open up the Topsham meet, was crowned 2025 driving champion at the mid-coast Maine venue while Andy Harrington and Autym Sowers finished tied for top conditioner honours with five wins apiece.

Maine’s harness racing circuit now transitions to the Skowhegan State Fair which opens its 207th consecutive meeting on Sunday, Aug. 10 Racing will be featured on Sunday and Monday with a 1 p.m. (EDT) post time. Action will then head under the lights on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday when post time moves to 7p.m., before returning to 1 p.m. afternoon sessions to close out the meeting on Friday and Saturday.

For those not able to come to the track, wagering on the Skowhegan Fair will be available on most major wagering platforms including hollywoodraces.com as well as at all state of Maine off track betting parlors.

The video for Skowhegan’s races will be live streamed on YouTube and the live audio of Skowhegan’s cards will be available along the online radio network of Mix Maine Media at The Mix 107.9 FM, True Country 93.5 FM, and THE Score 1160 AM as well as online at mixmaine.com

(With files from Maine Sires Stakes and Topsham Fair)