Freshman male pacers rolled into Bangor Raceway on Saturday, Sept. 12 for the Maine Sire Stakes and the quickest $24,067 Pine Tree State-bred event took place before the regular card pitting the top point earner and heretofore undefeated colt The Gucci Man against standings runner-up Top Notch Treasure.

When the wings folded, veteran reinsman Bruce Ranger sent post two starter Top Notch Treasure right to the top in a swift :28.4 opening quarter, with The Gucci Man (Kevin Switzer Jr.) forced into the pocket from post six while the pacesetter had already established a four-length lead.

The tempo was reduced to :59.2 as the field passed the midway marker. Shortly thereafter, Switzer Jr. took his shot with The Gucci Man and managed to get within a half-length of the leader as they hit the third station in 1:28.4. However, that attack was short-lived as Top Notch Treasure found another gear and sprinted away to win by three lengths in 1:57.4, just a fifth of a second off the track record. The Gucci Man settled for second while his stablemate, Justcallmebuddy (Aaron Hall), rounded out the top three.

Trained by Christopher Dubois for owner Steve Moskowitz Racing of Saratoga Springs, New York, the State Treasurer-Pembroke Perfect colt picked up his fifth win of the season and a new lifetime mark, with his earnings now exceeding $62,000 in seven starts.

In the other $23,824 early Maine Sire Stakes for male freshman pacers, One Last Deal made it two-in-a-row with a wire-to-wire romp.

After clearing handily from post five and hitting the first panel in :30, the son of Dudes The Man-Deal With Life was sent through middle splits of 1:01.2 and 1:29.3 by Andy Harrington, with no real pressure mounting. However, at the head of the stretch, Duderrific (Dave Ingraham), who had raced first-up since the half, got to the pacesetter’s saddle pad. With pressure mounting, Harrington let his charge have his head and the pair rolled home to score by 4-1/4 lengths in 1:59, a new lifetime best for the Marc Tardiff trainee, who's stablemate Rustysonlytreasure (Aaron Hall) rallied for second over Duderrific.

Owned, trained and bred by Mark Tardif, One Last Deal is now two-for-six with more than $37,000 banked.

In the final $24,068 division, which was held on the betting card, nothing was as it seemed.

When the wings folded, Agent James Bond (Kevin Switzer Jr.) took the lead; however, something appeared amiss with the winless colt as he continued to throw steps in as he led the field to the opening panel in :31. Poocham Luck and Dave Ingraham sat a cautious pocket while the pacesetter took the pack down to the half in 1:01.3, prompting Mike Cushing to tip Two Bolts to the outside to engage the leaders. Joey Mosher picked up that cover with bettors' choice Harriman as they rolled through the third turn.

Down the backstretch to the 1:32.2 third quarter, Harriman tipped three-wide to go around a rough-gaited Agent James Bond while Cushing and Ingraham were forced to check their charges. Harriman had swooped the traffic jam but around the turn, Mosher also lost his colt and went on an extended break. That allowed Agent James Bond to retake command at the head of the lane. Despite his squirrely nature, Agent James Bond did cross the wire first; however, following a lengthy inquiry was taken down and placed last for interference. Poocham Luck crossed the wire second and was thus declared the official winner in 2:03.1 while his stablemate Harriman was third placed second.

Driven by “Double Digit” Dave Ingraham, the son of State Treasurer-CMR Bresha paid a whopping $42 to win. Trained by Mike Graffam for owner/breeder G R Austin of Westmoreland, New Hampshire, Poocham Luck picked up his first lifetime victory in five outings.

(With files from Maine Sire Stakes)