Fresh off back-to-back driving championships earned at Maine’s Topsham and Skowhegan Fairs, Kevin Switzer Jr. continues to demonstrate mastery over the fairground circuit after posting five top placings during the 13-race card at the Windsor Fair on Monday, Aug. 25.
Switzer began his fairground rampage by scoring gate-to-wire wins in back-to-back, non-wagering splits of the Maine Sire Stakes for two-year-old colts and geldings. Running the state-bred table, he soared first with with Marc Tardiff trainee Dudes The Jet (2:00.3), who established a maiden standard in his $23,539 dash, and then with Real Horrorshow (1:59.2), who remained an undefeated six-for-six after parading victorious in his $23,783 contest for trainer Kevin Switzer Sr.
Turning his attention to the overnights, Switzer Jr. benefitted by the prowess of the streaking five-year-old pacing mare Juneparker (1:58.4), who won her sixth in a row for owner/trainer Ryan Berry.
Breaking third from the gate, Switzer rode the rail with 2-1 favourite Juneparker until being flushed from the pegs by Miss Quality (McGwire Sowers) just past the three-eighth-pole. Racing a game first-over for the final five-eighths, Switzer was able to call upon a strategic burst of Juneparker speed in the stretch to extend out to a two-length margin over the pacesetting Shes A Sassy Beach (Andy Harrington) and a rallying Cash Crazy Express (Heath Campbell), who dead-heated for the place.
“Juneparker is just ultra-sharp right now,” remarked Switzer. “I figured I couldn’t get around the one [Shes A Sassy Beach] though, so we ended up racing first-over? Well, it worked out fine. We always have a plan A, plan B and plan C in mind … Hopefully, I don’t have to go much further than that!”
Another streaking steed gave Switzer his fourth win of the day as eight-year-old pacing gelding De Chirico (1:59.2) scored his third in a row for trainer Michelle Lefebvre.
From off the pace, Switzer engineered a second-over journey behind He Can Rock (Mike Stevenson) as the outer flow attempted to track down the early speed of The Spy (Aaron Hall). Tussling to the wire, the lead-pack trio bristled to gain the final advantage, with bettors' choice De Chirico ultimately finding his best stride late to nail the half-length victory.
“He’s been racing really good -- hey, he’s won three in a row now,” said Switzer. “I wasn’t too worried. I had driven He Can Rock in his last start so I knew he’d carry me with good cover and I knew De Chirico would give me what we needed when I asked him.”
Switzer completed his five-pack performance in the twilight finale, taking a gate-to-wire gambol with the popular Benson Merrill-trained eight-year-old pacing mare Pretty Gorgeous (1:59.2), who strode through even fractions to claim her third seasonal win.
“It was another big day at the fair,” mused Switzer mused. “I’ve had some issues with her in the past but she raced good on the lead today. She’s a pretty fast mare. They all raced great today.”
After three sessions of racing at the 2025 edition of the Windsor Fair, Switzer leads all teamsters with 10 top tallies, five ahead of a logjam of drivers in the runner-up slot where Aaron Hall, Heath Campbell and McGwire Sowers boast five wins apiece.
Windsor’s nine-day race meet continues on Tuesday, Aug. 26 with a 3 p.m. post time and will continue on a daily basis through Labour Day with the exception of Wednesday, Aug. 27, which will be dark. Weekend post times will be at 1 p.m. while the weekday cards will commence at 3 p.m.
(With files from Windsor Fair; photo of Juneparker winning on Aug. 25)