Six $22,000-plus divisions of the Maine Sire Stakes for two- and three-year old trotters scampered through the Skowhegan State Fair on Friday (Aug. 15) with several of the diagonally-gaited set taking new records in the process.
In the featured $23560 three-year-old filly trot the 5-1 second choice Pandemic Princess (Heath Campbell) worked valiantly at attaining the point into a testy :30.3 opening panel. The ‘tester’ was the 3-5 favourite Barbella (Bruce Ranger) who finally took up position in the pocket, with Race Me Bombshell (Drew Campbell) navigating along in third.
The headstrong pacesetter Pandemic Princess opened up an additional six lengths on the field as the trotters passed the half in a minute flat. Heath Campbell finally reeled the daughter of Whataworkout into a brief respite through a softer 1:31.1 third panel. However, with the tables turned, now it was Barbella’s turn and she was out and rolling at her saddle pad as they approached the final turn.
Through the bend and into the home stretch Pandemic Princess went off stride which allowed Barbella to trot down to the wire in 2:01.3, a new lifetime best. Pandemic Princess finished second; Race Me Bombshell was third.
Trained by Ken Anderson for owner Robert Zakian, the daughter of Whataworkout (pictured above) picked up her fifth seasonal victory, and second in a row, paying $3.40 to win. She was bred by the late Mike Andrew.
The other $23,251 division for three-year-old trotting fillies was captured in wire-to-wire fashion by Ivan Davies’ Little Shot in 2:04.1. Owned and bred by Dr. Douglass Hutchins with Paul Kinnear, the daughter of Noble Venture grabbed her second win of the season.
Lady Lake Marty (Wally Watson) finished second; Twisted Fate (Mike Cushing) was third.
In the $23,940 Maine Sire Stakes for three-year-old trotting colts and geldings the Skowhegan faithful witnessed last year’s freshman champion return to his winning ways after a late start to his sophomore campaign.
Ken Watson rolled Whatawonder out to an early lead and never looked back as the son of Whataworkout made every call a winning one, scoring easily in 2:04.4 by 5-1/2 lengths.
Undefeated in 10 starts last season, the Lisa Watson-trained gelding picked up his first win in three seasonal starts. Owned and bred by Barbara Lawson, he returned $3.80.
Stablemate Katahdin Victor (Wally Watson) finished second; Libertys Wildcard rallied for third.
Frosh fillies enjoyed two divisions on the day’s full card, with Hayden taking a new 2:05.4 record for trainer/driver Gary Hall in the $23,190 pari-mutuel split. Owned and bred by Stephen Hall, the daughter of Cantab Fashion returned $3.40 for her second career victory.
Our Last Quote (Steve Wilson) finished a fast closing second; Nobella (Ken Watson) was third.
In the other division, Pembroke Lady won by a neck over Coronation Moon (Ivan Davies) in a lifetime best 2:05.1 for driver Heath Campbell and trainer Valerie Grondin. The daughter of Pembroke Slugger has advanced her unblemished record to five straight victories for owner Brenda Varney. She won the lion’s share of the $22,951 purse and was bred in Maine by the late William Varney.
Speaking of undefeated trotters, Wilder N Idy continued his reign of supremacy in the $23,138 freshman trot, scoring by an open 6-1/2 lengths for driver Mark Athearn and trainer Gretchen Athearn. Owned by Patrick Leavitt, the son of To The Hilt was bred by Mike Andrew and also enjoys a five-race win streak.
The Maine Sire Stakes winds down at Skowhegan with the two-year-old filly pacers on Saturday, Aug. 16. The series takes a week hiatus and then reconvenes at the Windsor Fair on Sunday, Aug. 24 with the three-year-old filly pacers.
(Maine Sire Stakes)