Not unlike other tracks across the Northeast, horse racing continued under rain-soaked conditions on Saturday, June 7 with driver Drew Campbell winning both $17,123 late closing series finals at Cumberland Raceway in Maine.
In the Baxter Pacing Series final, fans witnessed Campbell ‘send ‘em’ with the 3-5 favourite The Big Aristotle from post four. Assuming command nearly instantaneously, the four-year-old son of Special Forces paced to the opening panel in :30.1 as Control The Piper (Kevin Switzer Jr.) was parked out by the pacesetter past that marker and through the second turn.
As the field made its way to the 1:00.3 half, Campbell had The Big Aristotle well in command with Control The Piper still first-over. Beaches B Craycray (McGwire Sowers) was enjoying a pocket trip and Arts Flight (Aaron Hall) sat on the pegs fourth. The rest of the participants were gapped out and trailing in groups with varying levels of ‘pace.’
Campbell and The Big Aristotle increased the tempo while heading to the 1:30.3 third stanza, with Control The Piper calling it quits and Arts Flight moving first-over to challenge for the lead. Around the final turn, Hall had Arts Flight at the leader’s throat latch and was looking for a mild upset. However, The Big Aristotle dug in gamely despite the muddy conditions and was not to be denied, winning by half a length in 2:02.3.
The win was the second win in a row and third of the season from 16 starts for The Big Aristotle, who paid $3.20. Beaches B Craycray finished third.
Benson Merrill trains The Big Aritotle for owner Robert Kluchevitz.
The next race was the Rockland Pacing Series final and the the 4-5 favourite, Mr Beast (Sowers), pushed to the front en route to a snappy :30 opening split. Down the backside the first time, Valentino Of Leda (Bruce Ranger) got away second and Windemere Ryan (Mike Stevenson) sat third with 7-5 second choice Dinner Party (Campbell) fourth.
Heading to the much softer 1:01.1 half, Dinner Party was flushed out first-over as the pacesetting public choice was having difficulty with his footing and made an uncharacteristic miscue, which unsettled some of the other participants. From that point, Dinner Party needed no invitation to roll right on to the lead and left the rest of the bash in his wake as he put five lengths between him and the merrymaking catcher-uppers through a 1:30.3 third panel.
Campbell fed the six-year-old son of American Ideal racetrack to splash home by six lengths, as only his brother Heath Campbell could see the back of his helmet as he left the gathering behind and urged Word Out to be second best. Dinner Party tripped the soggy timer in 2:03.2 and grabbed his second win in row, paying $4.80. Windemere Ryan finished third.
Trained by Christopher Dubois for owner Mary Fernald, Dinner Party is now five-for-15 on the year.
Speaking of Campbell brothers, Heath took the first $6,849 division of the second leg of the Moosehead Pacing Series with Excelant Chance (2:04.1, $33) while Drew grabbed the next two with Skyway Ballett (2:06, $2.60) and Whata Twist (2:09.3, $6).
Drew ‘send ‘em’ Campbell enjoyed a total of four wins on the program. Heath Campbell and Kevin Switzer Jr. each reined a pair of winners. McGwire Sowers is the leading driver of Cumberland’s nine-week meet with 32 wins thus far. Drew Campbell (25), Nick Graffam (21), Kevin Switzer Jr. (16) and Aaron Hall (15) round out the top five.
Zach Vickerson enjoyed a training double, along with a driving win with his own Heavensway A in the $5,480 Maine Amateur Driving Club event. Winning in 2:02.3, he paid $3.
Autym Robinson is the current meet’s leading conditioner with 21 trips to the winner's circle, followed by Benson Merrill (18) and Andrew Harrington (12).
Racing resumes on Friday, June 13 at Cumberland Raceway and next Saturday, June 14 features the first legs of the Bar Harbor ($5,000 USD) and Portland ($6,000 USD) pacing series. The purses increase by a thousand (or more) each week as they lead to the finals on June 28. Next week also carries the third leg of the Moosehead Pacing Series ($6,000). First post is always 3:15 p.m.
(With files from First Tracks Cumberland; photo of the The Big Aristotle winning on June 7)