The seven-day race meet at the Skowhegan State Fair came to a glorious conclusion on Saturday, Aug. 16, highlighted by the 2025 edition of the Hight Invitational and a display of driving dominance on the highly competitive 13-race program.
Driver Kevin Switzer Jr. continued his mastery at Skowhegan Fair on Saturday, scoring seven wins over the 13-race program. The feat marked the third time in Switzer’s career where the teamster has recorded seven victories. The first came early in his career at Scarborough Downs and then again on Skowhegan’s closing Saturday card in 2014.
Switzer ran away with the 2025 Skowhegan driver’s championship with 22 wins, 12 more than his closest rival, Heath Campbell.
On the trainer’s side of the equation, Valerie Grondin claimed top honours with six Skowhegan scores, one more than both Ryan Berry and Michelle Lefebvre who battled for the championship right down wire.
Fresh off a new track record (1:53.1) set in the Pine Tree Invitational at First Tracks Cumberland and a scantly-beaten runner-up placing in Plainridge Park's Bert Beckwith Invitational, Two Fold Cold delivered as the prohibitive 1-5 post time favourite in the $20,833 Hight Invitational with a 1:55 score. Call Me Maverick (Mike Stevenson) settled for the runner-up share while Vel Lets Roll South (McGwire Sowers) rallied for third.
“The sun over Skowhegan at that time of day can make a horse think they see something around 5/8ths” explained Two Fold Cold's driver Dave Ingraham, “He steadied quickly though and reengaged with Mike’s horse right away. This colt has as quick a brush for a quarter as you could ever ask for and he certainly brought his A-game today.”
“He was sent up to us in April after Doug Gray qualified him at Bell,” trainer Kelly Case said, “He’d been sick earlier in the year after having a reaction to something, lost most of his hair, and the vet actually recommended putting him down. (Owner) Mark (Tardif), nursed him back though and we certainly keep a watchful eye on him constantly, but the recovery is complete and he’s racing better than ever right now.”
A perfect 12-for-12 as a three-year-old, the now four-year-old son of Deuce Seelster currently boasts 21 lifetime wins and has elevated his career bankroll past the quarter-million dollar mark to $329,416 with the Hight victory.
And after claiming wins in the first two major invitationals along the state-of-Maine circuit, Two Fold Cold figures to be one of the leading contenders for the upcoming Windsor Fair Invitational to be held on their Labor Day program.
Saturday's card also featured two Maine Sires Stakes for two-year-old pacing fillies. Snowonthepines remained perfect in five career starts with a 2:02.3 score in a non-betting affair. Ekorus ($3.40) paced to a personal best 2:03 performance to kick off the betting card.
After the excitement of Skowhegan, Maine’s fairground circuit will take a six-day breather until setting up camp at the great Windsor Fair. Windsor’s nine-day race meet commences on Saturday, Aug. 23 and will continue on a daily basis through Labor Day with the exception of Wednesday, Aug. 27 which will be dark. Weekend post times will be at 1 p.m. (EDT) while the weekday cards will commence at 3 p.m.
(with files from Skowhegan)