With two of his colleagues trying valiantly to defeat him, Massive Speed eked out his sixth straight victory on Thursday, Aug. 7 at the Topsham Fair as part of an impressive return to action for driver Aaron Hall.
Coming into the afternoon with a five-race unbeaten streak is nothing new for the Marc Tardif-trained son of Dudes The Man. But, having his foes get past his saddle pad isn't as common.
Last year Massive Speed uncorked an impressive 10-race rout that included victories in all of his freshman legs of the Maine Sire Stakes, plus the rich $102,734 final. This season has been a similar path for the divisional standout; however, the finish may have been a little too close for comfort.
In his early $16,406 non-wagering three-year-old male pacing event, Massive Speed does what he usually does, goes to the front. From that point driver Aaron Hall set snappy fractions of :29.1, and :59 to the opening half, while maintaining a comfortable margin in front of the pocket-sitting Ridgecrest Dan (John Nason).
Hitting the third station in 1:28.4, it appeared that the pair was home free, but the challengers had other intentions. While Ridgecrest Dan tipped to the outside and had looked Massive Speed right in the eye at the head of the stretch, a threat from the inside in the form of stablemate Dawn Two Dark (Andy Harrington) was at the colt’s saddle pad.
Massive Speed held on gamely, standing his ground, and refusing to lose. The photo finish revealed that the divisional star had prevailed by a head over Ridgecrest Dan and by a neck over Dawn Two Dark in 1:59.1.
Trained by Marc Tardif for owner Leighton Property, Massive Speed has now accrued $232,559 lifetime with 16 career victories. He was bred in Maine by Laurie Harding.
Hall, Tardif and owner Lesley Leighton swept the glamour boys divisions by capturing the other $16,406 division, held on the regular card, with No Guts No Glory.
When the wings folded driver Drew Campbell sent Race Me Celtic out to the front setting opening panels of :29.4 and 1:00. With No Guts No Glory (Aaron Hall) sitting a tight pocket to the half, Campbell tried to gain some separation by setting a swifter 1:29 third stanza.
However, No Guts No Glory showed that he possessed both the intestinal fortitude and the speed to overcome the pacesetter. He passed Race Me Celtic in the homestretch to prevail by a length in a lifetime best 1:58.4. Ella V Dude (Jason Bertolini) finished third.
Trained by Tardif for owner / breeder Leighton Property, No Guts No Glory finally broke his maiden after 13 previous career attempts. The son of Deuce Seelster paid $17.60 to win, and the time of his mile matched the track record for sophomore pacing geldings set by Artchie Andrews nearly 21 years ago to the day — Aug. 10, 2004.
Hall deftly transitioned from sickbed to multiple winner's circle sessions on Thursday as one of Maine’s top-rated pilots celebrated a clean bill of health with a five-win performance.
“Aaron called me about two hours before post time on Wednesday and told me he was about half way to the fairgrounds but was turning around to head back home because he was feeling so ill,” said Topsham’s presiding judge, Greg Kirby, “We found catch-drivers for all his Wednesday drives and wished him a speedy recovery.”.
And recover Aaron did, returning to action on Thursday with a reinvigorated fire and working absolute magic with every line he touched. After the Sire Stakes sweep, Hall engineered three consecutive winning strategies in the overnight ranks courtesy Hey Run Me Over (2:01.3; $12.40), Bolt Ruler (2:00; $8.60) and Forrest Blu (1:58.2; $6.40).
Hall concluded his day with five wins, two seconds, and two thirds from 12 starts on the card with his steeds claiming more than one third of the total purses offered.
“It was a great day for sure,” Hall remarked, “All the horses raced great and the track at Topsham continues to be outstanding this year. But honestly, I was just happy to be able to make it to the track today after the way I felt yesterday.”
After four sessions of racing at Topsham, Hall has elevated himself into a second-place tie on the driver’s leaderboard with he and Heath Campbell amassing six wins apiece. The pair trail Kevin Switzer, Jr who trumps all comers with nine weeklong wins and sit one win ahead of Drew Campbell and Andy Harrington who own five Topsham wins each.
In other Topsham news, Andy Harrington engineered a bit of a rarity on Thursday as he drove his 15-year-old pacer, Rockaholic (1:59.4; $4:00) to victory in the afternoon’s finale.
The win was the 45th career score for the veteran son of Rocknroll Hanover, who is allowed to compete in amateur and fair events by a recent change in Maine Harness Racing Commission rules.
“I wasn’t going to bring him back but he raced so well at the end of last season and he was getting cranky sitting around doing nothing, “Harrington remarked, “He’s always been one of my favourites and he loves what he does. It will be sad for both him and me when he finally retires at the end of this season.”
The 2025 Topsham Fair meet concludes with an 11-race program beginning at 12:30 p.m. (EDT) on Saturday, Aug. 9. The program will feature two $11,500-plus USD splits of Maine Sire Stakes action for two-year-old filly pacers to be contested as non-wagering events, immediately followed by nine pari-mutuel contests.
Next week, the Maine Sire Stakes slides up to Skowhegan with the freshman pacing colts on Monday, Aug. 11 and sophomore filly pacers on Tuesday, Aug. 12.
(with files from Maine Sire Stakes and Topsham Fair)