The Maine Sire Stakes competitors made their final appearance in front of capacity crowds on Friday and Saturday (Oct. 6 & 7) at the Fryeburg Fair in preparation for the rich finals next week.
The three-year-old pacing colts and geldings squared off in two $14,567 divisions before the regular card on Saturday, with Mattucci (pictured above) winning the fastest division in 1:59.2 over a track rated 'good.'
The Maine faithful disregarded the damp conditions to cheer for their favourite harness heroes as the fans got what they wanted in thrilling victories and seeing their favourite horses and drivers in action.
Drew Campbell, driving Mattucci, left swiftly from post four and was treated to some of that good Fryeburg air into the opening panels of :29.3 and :58.3, having been hung out to dry by Facemaskrequired (Walter Case Jr.). Finally clearing the lead while heading to the 1:29 third panel, Campbell had Mattucci on top and in control through the head of the stretch. However, Race Me Maverick (Bill Childs) made a first-over move and challenged the leader down to the wire, coming up short by a nose. Two Points (Dave Ingraham) finished third.
Owned, bred and trained by Valerie Grondin with co-owner Gino Mattucci, the son of Western Maverick picked up his first win of the season from his 15th start in the strong effort, while establishing a new lifetime mark.
The other $14,567 division was captured by So Rock N Roll in 1:59.4. The son of Western Maverick was forced three-deep into the :30.1 opening panel and coasted home a winner after that, throwing in a :28.1 final quarter for good measure. Colt Bennett (Dave Ingraham) finished second and Twice The Ice (Kevin Switzer Jr.) was third.
So Rock N Roll is owned and was bred by Leighton Property. He picked up his sixth win of the year from 13 starts, pushing his seasonal bankroll to $90,640.
Both of those divisions were raced before the regular card.
On Friday, the $15,418 Maine-sired filly pacers raced on the card, with wagering favourite Pickmepickme scoring in 1:59.2. It was a wire-to-wire, two-length score for the homebred Tardif Taskforce stable favourite, who paid $3.60 to win. Katelyns Angel (Mike Stevenson) finished second and La Mambacita (Aaron Hall) was third.
Driven by Andy Harrington for owner/breeder/trainer Marc Tardif, the daughter of Western Maverick now has seven wins this season from a dozens starts and lifetime earnings of $155,025.
All the Pine Tree State-sired three-year-olds reconvene at Bangor for their divisional finals on Saturday, Oct. 14.
(With files from Maine Sire Stakes)