Real Horrorshow was able to get back into the win column with a victory at First Tracks Cumberland during this past weekend's racing action in Maine.
Last season’s Pine Tree State-bred freshman champion Real Horrorshow had never tasted defeat until last week when Rebels Revenge sat a pocket trip and stormed down the lane to catch the colt with the previously unblemished record in his first start of the year.
Fast forward a week to Saturday, June 27 and the script was the same in the second leg of the Maine Sire Stakes for three-year-old male pacers, where Real Horrorshow was, once again, bet down to the heavy favourite at 1-5. Regular driver Kevin Switzer Jr. sent him right out from the start, blazing to an early lead. Second choice and last week’s victor Rebels Revenge (Aaron Hall) ducked into the pocket and proceeded to give chase through a :29.1 opening panel and a softer 1:00 half.
Rebels Revenge was headstrong in the garden spot while heading down the backside the final time, with the pacesetter hitting the third panel in 1:29.2 and looking to gain some separation.
Off the turn, Hall tipped Rebels Revenge and began to apply steady pressure on the leader, gaining ground with every stride. The pair were locked in another furious clash down the stretch, with Rebels Revenge advancing within a neck of Real Horrorshow. For the respective connections, the race was a real nail biter -- right down to the wire, but ultimately the race belonged to Real Horrowshow, who showed the necessary grit and fought back to retain the lead and split the beam in 1:58.2, a new lifetime best. Dudes The Jet (Dave Ingraham) followed nearly three lengths back in third.
Trained by the senior Kevin Switzer, who also co-owns as part of KDK Standardbreds along with partners Kathleen Mofield of Bedford, Massachusetts and Anthony Sivik Jr. of Orono, Maine, the son of Dudes The Man-Pretty Eyes returned $2.40 for his first win of the season. The lion's share of the $22,049 purse lifted his lifetime earnings to $153,350.
In the other division, the 9-5 favourite Daytoremember (Heath Campbell) rolled out aggressively to take command from post six and set comfortable fractions of :29.2 and 1:00 to the mid-station. Down the backside and heading to the third stanza, 5-1 shot Itsjustmoney and Kevin Switzer Jr. maintained a tight pocket as the favourite hit that marker in 1:29.3. Around the turn, the aggressor tipped and began to gain ground on the leader. As they turned for home, the pair was neck and neck with the momentum favouring the outside swinging Itsjustmoney, who had a full head of steam. With nothing but racetrack in front of him, Itsjustmoney overpowered Daytoremember to break his maiden and score by 2-1/4 lengths in 1:58.4. Deuces Red (Mike Stevenson) got up for third.
Owned and trained by Marc Tardif, the son of Thirty Two Red-J P Silver got his first win in 12 lifetime starts. He returned $13.20 for the mild upset.
Driver Aaron Hall started his day with a 1:57.3 score aboard the Sara Harrington-trained pacing mare Maggie At Bat ($11.40), which was his 1,000th career victory. Hall won two more on the afternoon's 12-race program with Zoes Precious RN ($19) and Head Of The Table ($12.60).
Hall earned his first driving win in 2011 and has earned more than 100 wins in each of the last five seasons, with 2025 a career-best year as he won 158 races during his second straight million-dollar campaign.
Kevin Switzer Jr. also enjoyed three wins on the Saturday program then padded his lead in the drivers standings with a seven-win day on Sunday, June 28, scoring in all but four races on that program.
During his super Sunday, Switzer Jr. assisted a training triple for Bob Marston with Beyond The Past ($29.90), Circling The Prey ($4.20) and Jet Willis ($3), as well as a double for Zach Vickerson with Rau Rau ($3.80) and Sheriff N ($2.60). He also won with Ali ($5.20) for Chris Dubois and former Maine Sire Stakes winner Dawn To Dark ($2.20), who took a new lifetime mark of 1:56.3 for the Tardif stable.
When the dust settled from the hot afternoon harness racing, Switzer Jr. had increased his place atop the leaderboard with 61 seasonal victories at First Tracks Cumberland. Tied for second with 48 apiece are both Nick Graffam and Aaron Hall.
With a little over a month to go in the Spring-Summer meet, Michelle Lefebvre leads all conditioners with 42 wins. Bob Marson sits second with 35 wins and Chris DuBois (20), Sara Harrington and Autym Sowers (19) round out the top five trainers.
Racing resumes on Saturday, July 4, as there will be no racing on Friday, July 3, a federal holiday. After this weekend, First Tracks Cumberland reverts back to a Friday-Saturday schedule, with the exception of the three day run from Friday, July 24 through Sunday, July 26 during the penultimate weekend of the meet. First post is 12:15 p.m. during the extended pari-mutuel meeting, which runs through Aug. 2.
(With files from First Tracks Cumberland; photo of Real Horrorshow winning on June 27)