The Maine Sire Stakes trotters worked their way over to the Windsor Fair on Tuesday, Sept. 1, with highlights coming in the three-year-old filly division as Hayden earned her fifth straight stakes victory and the two-year-old colt event as U Know I Know extended his unbeaten streak to six.
In one of the day's four $23,000+ non-wagering stakes divisions, Hayden and veteran trainer/driver Gary Hall took a commanding lead early and cruised through panels of :30.1, 1:00.1 and 1:30.2. No one was going to catch the daughter of Cantab Fashion-AJs Baby as she increased her three-length lead down the stretch to score in 2:00.4, a new lifetime best, while prevailing by 5-1/2 lengths. Our Last Quote (Michael Cushing) advanced first-over to take second from pocket-sitter I Think I Can (John Nason).
Owned and bred by Stephen Hall of Newport, Maine, Hayden improved to seven-for-eight on the season.
Ken Watson steered U Know I Know to his sixth consecutive win in a lifetime best 2:03.3, scoring by three lengths over stablemate Race Me Bruno (Wally Watson). Trained by Lisa Watson for owner/breeder Barbara Lawson of Mendon, Massachusetts, the Whataworkout-Without Lindy gelding gained the early lead from eventual third-place finisher Pembroke Zagursky (Heath Campbell) after the :29.2 quarter then carved out middle splits of 1:00.2 and 1:32.2 en route to the victory.
Driver Heath Campbell won the other two Maine Sire Stakes divisions, with two-year-old filly Mikella Bella (2:10.2) as part of a stakes double for the Hall stable and three-year-old gelding Guss Workout (2:04.4) scoring for trainer Valerie Grondin.
Mikella Bella, a daughter of To The Hilt out of Knella Bella, got away second behind her pacesetting stablemate and current divisional leader Princess Caledonia (driven by Hall), who made an uncharacteristic miscue in deep stretch. Campbell capitalized on the situation that helped Mikella Bella pick up her second Sire Stakes victory. Hall shares ownership of the winner with Maine partners James Kelly Jr., Betsey Kelley and and Kristina Hall.
Guss Workout led all the way in his division, keeping Trottingfortreasure (Kevin Switzer Jr.) at bay and going on to a 3-1/2-length triumph over that foe. The homebred Whataworkout-Bibbidi Boo gelding is now a three-time Sire Stakes winner this season for Lynn-Marie Plouffe of Saco, Maine.
Looking ahead, the Maine Sire Stakes action resumes at Windsor Fair with the two-year-old male pacers on Thursday, Sept. 3 and their female counterparts on Friday, Sept. 4. Then it’s back to the glamour boys who make their second appearance at Windsor on Sunday, Sept. 6, followed by the three-year-old filly pacers who close out the meet on Labour Day, Monday, Sept. 7.
(With files from Maine Sire Stakes; photo of Hayden winning on Sept. 1)