The battle for the First Tracks Cumberland driving championship just got a little closer as Bruce Ranger took the $5,000 feature, a Open II-III Trot, with Broadway Giant on Tuesday (Nov. 30).
Ranger charged from behind the starting car from post five with favourite Broadway Giant, assumed command and maintained a comfortable tempo through all the remaining stanzas. Despite continued pressure from L Dees Yoyo Ma, Ranger was able to secure a 1-1/2-length victory in 2:02.
Owned and trained by Ronald Patoine, the seven-year-old son of Broadway Hall picked up his third win of the season after a lengthy drought at Plainridge. L Dees Yoyo Ma (Drew Campbell) finished second and Neverdie (Ron Cushing) was third. Broadway Giant paid $3.20 to win.
Ranger wired the field once again in race six, a $4,000 Open IV Trot, which was captured by Major Matter in 2:03.3. The favourite was able to avoid some traffic trouble after the start and roll on to the lead. From there, Ranger cruised through easy fractions with Major Matter and drew off down the stretch to score by four. Mackworthy (Wally Watson) finished second and Call Me Hal (Nick Graffam) was third. Major Matter paid $4.80 to win.
The $4,000 ‘Grumpy Old Man Pace’ was captured by 13-year-old Personnel Space in 2:00.3. Owned and trained by Michael Girouard, the son of I Am A Fool is a winner of 43 races lifetime. Driven by Matt Athearn, Personnel Space paid $12.40 to win. Spaghetti Eddie (Walter Case Jr.) finished second and Bettoriffic (Drew Campbell) was third.
Winning two out of the three trot races on the Tuesday card, Ranger has cut the seasonal leaderboard margin down to one, with Drew Campbell holding a narrow edge for first-place in the driver standings, 58-57.
Matt Athearn and Dan Deslandes also had driving doubles on the program.
Racing resumes on Wednesday (Dec. 1), with post time set for 11 a.m.
(With files from First Tracks Cumberland)