Driver Drew Campbell needed no RSVP as he sent Dinner Party to a wire-to-wire romp in the featured $7,639 conditioned pace on Saturday, April 26 on a damp and foggy afternoon at Cumberland Raceway.
Leaving from pylon position, Campbell hustled the six-year-old son of American Ideal right to the top where he immediately procured a 3-1/2-length lead into the :30.1 opening panel. Bare Bone (Walter Case Jr.) got away second with 3-5 favourite Heavensway A (Kevin Switzer Jr.) tracking along closely in third.
Dinner Party led the way into a 1:01 half with a rough-gaited Bare Bone losing ground, which allowed Heavensway A to assume the two-hole and initiate further movement in the outer flow.
With Bare Bone going off stride while approaching the five-eighths pole, the trailing horses were scattered in the back of the pack. This allowed Dinner Party and Heavensway A to gain some separation from the rest of the field in a much swifter 1:28.3 third stanza, with the leader on top by a 4-1/2-length margin.
By the head of the stretch it was all over but the clean up as Dinner Party enjoyed a plate smashing victory in 1:59 over the 'good' track, hitting the buffet line three lengths ahead of Heavensway A for a new seasonal mark. Flow With Joe (Aaron Hall) finished third.
Trained by Christopher DuBois for owner Mary Fernald, Dinner Party picked up his second seasonal victory in 10 starts and recorded the 13th triumph of his career. Dinner Party now has $75,675 in lifetime earnings.
He treated his backers to a handsome $10 gratuity.
Aaron Hall picked up his second win in a row with the Andy Harrington-trained Forrest Blu, who took his $6,944 conditioned pace in 2:00.1. Blasting three-wide down the backside, the six-year-old son of Roll With Joe won for the second time in three seasonal starts, paying $6.40 to his backers.
Mike Stevenson found his way to the winner's circle with Rest Assured from the outside post seven. He got the eight-year-old son of Westwardho Hanover up in the final strides to score in 2:04.4, taking a $6,111 conditioned pace. Stevenson also trains the $16 winner for owner David Zuckerman.
Todd ‘Too Tough’ Whitney took the weekly $5,556 Maine Amateur Driving Club event with Michelle Lefebvre’s Nagle in 2:03, paying $4.40 to win. Smartys Filly (Jason Bertolini) finished second and Bush Man N (Hunter Lofthus) was third. The race is sponsored by the Blue Seal Feed stores of North Falmouth and Windham, Maine.
Nick Graffam won three races on the program and Drew Campbell piloted a pair of winners.
After six programs during Cumberland’s Spring-Summer Meet, the leading driver is McGwire Sowers with 13 wins, Nick Graffam has 10 and Drew Campbell rounds out the top troika with nine victories. Autym Robinson is the leading conditioner with 12 wins, followed by Benson Merrill with six and Mike Graffam and Andy Harrington with four apiece.
Racing resumes at Cumberland on Friday, May 2. Looking ahead to next Saturday, May 3, bettors and fans of Thoroughbred racing will be able to watch and wager on the entire Kentucky Derby card from Churchill Downs, right in the Cumberland Raceway grandstand.
Cumberland's Spring/Summer Meet will continue with regular racing on Fridays and Saturdays through Aug. 2. First post is slated for 3:15 p.m. during the extended pari-mutuel meeting.
(With files from First Tracks Cumberland)