Brothers Mike and Ron Cushing each won a division of the Maine Sire Stakes on Wednesday, June 25 at Bangor Raceway with their own three-year-old pacing fillies.
In the first $16,338 division, Chasing Dudes (Nick Graffam) blasted out for an early lead, followed in the pocket by the Mike Cushing-driven 3-5 favourite, Leanne Marie, with Thinkin Bout Life (Kevin Switzer Jr.) forced to forge ahead to the front from the outside.
The field of fillies reached the quarter in :30.4, prompting Leanne Marie to pull from third position and take the lead just before the group was sent around the paddock turn. Off the bend, brother Ron Cushing pulled 8-5 shot Glorilla first-over and chased through the 1:02.1 half.
Glorilla was rough-gaited through the third turn, which prompted Wishin For Kisses (McGwire Sowers) to tip three-wide from her second-over position. However, Leanne Marie was still firmly in command through the 1:31.4 third panel and had opened a 10-length lead over the rest of the pack.
Down the lane, it was a race for second place as Mike Cushing hand-drove Leanne Marie under the wire in 2:01.4 to score by four lengths. Thinkin Bout Life finished second and Chasing Dudes was a close third.
Trained and co-owned by Charlene ‘Sherry’ Cushing with partners Pamela Smith and Jane Dipompo, the homebred daughter of Artistic Fella out of Zoe Blue Chip earned her third career win -- first of the season -- in a dozen starts. She paid $3.20 to win.
The second $16,337 division went to the elder Cushing brother, Ron, who steered the heavy 1-9 betting favourite Lysiun to an easy victory.
Scoring from post four, Ron Cushing was parked to the opening quarter in :29.1 by a flurry of activity on the inside. Once the dust settled, Whisper Of Luck (Sowers) had taken point briefly, but was soon overtaken by Lysiun before the three-eighths marker.
Heading to the 1:00 half, the outer flow began but was soon thwarted by the increased tempo and a short-lived brush down the backside and into the 1:29.4 third stanza.
Down the lane, it was all Lysiun, who drew away from the field and won by four lengths in 1:59.2. Whisper Of Luck finished second and Ruff Dudes Jena (Dave Ingraham) was third.
Bred by Lynne-Marie Plouffe, the daughter of Dudes The Man and B Passionate is trained by Heidi Cushing. She paid $2.20 to win as she improved her perfect sophomore to record three-for-three.
Looking ahead, the Saturday, June 28 program at Cumberland Raceway has two Maine Sire Stakes divisions for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings, carded as races two and four, with a first post of 3:15 p.m.
(With files from Maine Sire Stakes; photo of Lysiun winning on June 25)