The Maine Sire Stakes glamour boys swung into Topsham Fair on Monday, Aug. 10 with Real Horrowshow rebounding from a rare defeat in one of the two $21,124 races held before the pari-mutuel card while emerging divisional star Daytoremember added another victory.
In the first event, driver Kevin Switzer Jr. was aboard Real Horrorshow and looking to avenge last week’s rare second-place finish.
Switzer Jr. wasted little time moving his charge to the front for :29.3 and 1:00.2 early splits, while maintaining the lead over the pocket-sitting Nuh Uh (Andy Harrington). Heading to the half and through the 1:30.1 third station, Dudes The Jet (Joey Mosher) was getting that good Maine air and had improved his position from fifth to second out on the rim. However, Real Horrorshow kept his rivals at bay down the lane winning by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:58.4. A trio of Marc Tardiff trainees gave chase with Nuh Uh second, Ghost Ofdarkness (Aaron Hall) third and Dudes The Jet ending up fourth in the five-horse field.
Real Horrorshow, now with four wins on the season, improved to 13-for-15 lifetime, boosting his earnings to $191,317. The son of Dudes The Man-Pretty Eyes is trained by the senior Kevin Switzer, who also co-owns as Kdk Standardbreds along with Kathleen Mofield of Bedford, Massachusetts and Anthony Sivik Jr. of Orono, Maine.
In the second non-wagering race, Daytoremember, who provided the aforementioned Real Horrorshow his second loss of the season last time out, won again to improve to five-for-six on the season.
The two divisional rivals drew into separate divisions for this leg of the Maine Sire Stakes and driver Heath Campbell certainly drove this son of Dudes The Man (out of Paxxie) like he was the best. Leaving swiftly to take command, Daytoremember then proceeded to set speedy early fractions of :29.1 and 1:00 in the first half. With Rebels Revenge (Aaron Hall) sitting in a tight pocket, driver Joey Mosher tipped Ghost Of Winter to the outside from fourth to start the outer flow into a 1:29.4 third panel. With fractions to his liking, Real Horrorshow was able to hold off the late charge of Rebels Revenge by a half length in 1:58.4. Rebels Revenge led another Tardiff trio finishing second through fourth, with Ghost Of Winter third and Itsjustmoney (Kevin Switzer Jr.) fourth.
Daytoremember is a homebred for trainer Valerie Grondin and he now has seven career victories from 17 starts with earnings just shy of $130,000.
Daytoremember now leads Real Horrorshow by 25 points in the divisional standings.
Looking ahead, Topsham will host all of the Pine Tree State-bred two and three-year-old trotters on Wednesday, Aug. 12, followed by the two-year-old filly pacers on Thursday, Aug. 13.
(With files from Maine Sire Stakes)