Dave Ingraham lived up to his ‘Double Digit’ moniker at Cumberland Raceway on Friday, June 20 by steering Dynamical Tad to a textbook go-to-whoa upset in the $6,757 featured trot.
Scoring from pylon position Ingraham sent the 18-1 longshot out to the front, playing hardball against favoured 3-5 choice Rose Run Xander (Benson Merrill) and Maplewood Slugger (John Nason) which resulted in a frantic :27.3 opening panel, forcing those trotters to take back and sit second and third, respectively.
Around the three-eighths marker McGwire Sowers shifted High Gear No Fear into gear first over to get around a gapping Maplewood Slugger. Once comfortably in command, Ingraham was able to ease the tempo down to a more manageable :57.3 half, with second choice Empereurthebest FR (Walter Case Jr.) picking up the live cover second over.
With Rose Run Xander tight to his helmet, the pacesetter and his tracker had the rest of the field gaining ground as they approached the 1:28 third stanza. High Gear No Fear maintained his high side momentum and put a head in front of the favourite as they rounded the final turn.
Down the stretch it was clearly Dynamical Tad’s resilience that secured the victory as they crossed the wire in 2:00.1 in front by 3-1/4 lengths. High Gear No Fear finished second; Maplewood Slugger was third.
Trained and co-owned by Luke Varnum with Patricia Varnum, the five-year-old son of Tad The Stud picked up his second win of the season and a new lifetime mark in the process. He paid a whopping $38.60 to win. The $1 Exacta paid $121.20 and the $1 Trifecta came back $284.70.
Driver Aaron Hall and trainer Jamie Gerard teamed up to take the early double ($7.90) with Quan Blue Chip (1:58.4, $7.60) and Twin B High Tech (1:59.2, $5.20). McGwire Sowers and his wife Autym also had a pair of winners: Sarahs Lilly (1:57.3, $2.40) and Shes A Sassy Beach (1:58.3, $4.20). They may have had a hat trick on the program, however, their star pacing mare Vel Miss Taylor was scratched from race two.
Todd Whitney cruised to another easy victory with Rise N Grind (1:56, $2.20) in the Maine Amateur Driving Club event, with the horse being claimed by trainer Ryan Berry for the $6,757 tag.
Racing continues on Saturday, June 21 with 10 races, including a total of $66,000 USD in purses spread out among various legs of late closing series events.
The winner of the $17,123 Rockland series final, Dinner Party (2-1, Drew Campbell) will look to celebrate once again in his $7,500 USD leg of the Portland Pacing Series. The six-year-old son of American Ideal boasts five wins and $32,842 in earnings this year.
Heavensway A (5-2, Kevin Switzer Jr.) leads the pack in the other $7,500 USD division of the Portland. Fresh off of two wins, the eight-year-old son of Rock N Roll Heaven has to contend with post eight.
The action kicks off at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday.
(with files from First Tracks Cumberland)