Katahdin Mark returned to form and maintained his lofty perch atop the Maine Breeders Stakes (MSBS) point standings with another victory Saturday (Sept. 17) at Bangor’s historic Bass Park.
Scoring from post two in the $18,489 MSBS three-year-old colt and gelding trot, trainer-driver Gary Hall put Katahdin Mark right where he likes to be — controlling the tempo on the front end. While setting aggressive opening fractions of :30 and 1:01.1, the son of Noble Venture appeared to be having things his own way with much of the field scattered as the result of earlier miscues in, and around, the first turn.
By the 1:31.1 three-quarters, Katahdin Mark still had two lengths on Chamorro and 15-plus lengths on the rest of the field. As the pair turned for home, Chamorro started to gain on the leader and got to within three-quarter lengths at the wire, but the wire came too soon. Chamorro finished second; Warriorofthevalley was third.
Winning his seventh start this season, Katahdin Mark scored in 2:01.1 for owner-breeders James and Betsey Kelley. He paid $3 to win.
The earlier non-wagering race for Maine-bred three-year-old trotting fillies, vying for a purse of $18,736, had a much different complexion following four of the six entrants making breaks before the quarter pole.
When the dust settled, two of the three Valerie Grondin trainees had their eyes on the prize with Pembroke Honcho grabbing the lead from post four, followed by Pembroke Faye, who avoided traffic trouble and got away second from post six.
Honcho and Aaron Hall set a swift opening panel of :31 and were on top by six at the quarter pole. A tap on the brakes resulted in a 1:03.1 half and allowed stable mate Pembroke Faye to get within 2-1/2 lengths. By the 1:34 third panel, Faye and Heath Campbell were out and rolling while applying pressure to the leader.
Down the stretch, the final surge allowed Pembroke Faye to get to the lead and win in 2:03.3 by three-quarter lengths. It was a lifetime mark and first victory on the year for the daughter of Pembroke Slugger. Owned and bred by Bill Varney, it was just her fifth start of the year.
Pembroke Honcho finished second; Maplewood Slugger was third.
Sunday’s (Sept. 18) Farmington program features two $17,000-plus divisions of the Maine Breeders Stakes for two-year-old pacing fillies.
The first non-wagering event is a four-horse affair with Marc Tardif’s divisional leader Pickmepickme looking for her seventh win of the season. The daughter of Western Maverick has been no worse than third in eight seasonal starts. She will be driven by Andy Harrington. Post time is 1:30 p.m. (EDT).
The pari-mutuel card gets underway at 2 p.m. with the opener a $17,989 MSBS companion event for two-year-old frosh fillies. Katelyns Angel has been installed as the 2-1 favourite and will start from post five. Having won half of her starts this year, the daughter of Western Maverick should handle this bunch on her home turf quite handily.
South St Dottie won her last start at Windsor and has been pegged as the 7-2 second choice. Janie has finished second in half of her eight seasonal outings and could add to the fray.
The Maine-bred fair racing continues for an additional three days at the Franklin County oval, with all dates carrying 2 p.m. post times.
After Farmington, harness racing returns to the Cumberland Fairgrounds from Sept. 28 through Oct. 2 for eight days of pari-mutuel action. The 150th annual Cumberland Fair and First Tracks host the Maine Breeders Stakes two-year-old finals on Saturday, Oct. 1.
The final stop on the Pine Tree State fair circuit is historic Fryeburg, Oct 6-8. The Maine-sired sophomore finale returns to Bangor for all of the three-year-old MSBS divisional finals on Oct. 15.
(MSBS)