Driver Wally Watson was very confident in Cigars And Port and drove him accordingly on Sunday, April 19 in the $8,493 featured conditioned pace at First Tracks Cumberland.
Dismissed as the third choice at 4-1 odds, Wally Watson paid no attention to the tote board as he sent the nine-year-old son of So Surreal-Sweet On Art right out to the top in the sloppy conditions. Reaching the first station in :28.4, the veteran teamster reduced the tempo into a :59.1 half with No Bettor Joy (Mike Stevenson) sitting in a tight pocket.
Kissincaptain (Andy Harrington) was the first to pull from the back of the pack, with Gator Hanover (Nick Graffam) grabbing that cover. With the first-up Kissincaptain stalling down the backstretch and Gator Hanover being pushed three-wide, Aaron Hall tipped the 2-1 lukewarm favourite Arts Flight from the three-hole to launch a challenge past the 1:29 third-quarter mark.
With No Bettor Joy locked in the box and a fresh Arts Flight pouring it on around the turn, Cigars And Port had the heat to his feet and continued digging gamely down to the wire, keeping the would-be party crashers on the porch. Tripping the rain-soaked timer in 1:59.3, Cigars And Port prevailed by a measured half-length.
He returned $10.40 to win in his fourth start of the season, with No Bettor Joy finishing second and Arts Flight 2-1/2 lengths behind in third.
Cigars And Port is trained by Lisa Watson and owned Susan Muldoon of Marblehead, Massachusetts and Richard Salzillo of Southington, Connecticut.
The win was his 30th lifetime, bringing his career earnings to nearly $570,000.
Kevin Switzer Jr. led the Cumberland drivers colony on the 14-race card with four victories, followed by Nick Graffam and McGwire Sowers, who each had three scores. The aforementioned Wally Watson enjoyed a pair of wins.
After nine racing cards over the current spring meet, Nick Graffam remains atop the leaderboard with 27 wins, followed by Aaron Hall with 16 and Kevin Switzer Jr. gaining ground with 15.
Racing resumes at First Tracks Cumberland on Friday, April 24, which marks the start of six weeks of Friday-Saturday racing through the month of May. First post is 12:15 p.m.
(With files from First Tracks Cumberland)