A large crowd and clear skies greeted the opening of the 150th annual Cumberland Fair on Sunday (Sept. 25) with 10 exciting harness horse races marking the first of eight days of action.
The featured events for the opening day card were the first legs of two individual Monsters of the Midway series.
Eighty-four-year-old Bob Nadeau guided his trusty gray steed Putnams Storm to a wire-to-wire victory in the first of two six-horse legs of the $6,000 Monsters of the Midway Series #2 eliminations.
Scoring from pylon position, the octogenarian never looked back as his 13-year-old ashen gelding rolled through opening fractions of :28.4 and 1:00 while the rest of the field battled for third place as Winter Asher-Stalbaum had Smart Move tucked in right behind Nadeau’s helmet.
At the half, Aaron Hall was first-over with wagering favourite Ima Tragedy N, followed by Age Is A Number (Walter Case Jr.). Not much changed into a 1:28.3 third panel, however, those two rivals traded positions in the stretch while watching Nadeau score handily in 2:00.1.
Putnams Storm is owned, trained and was driven by Nadeau, a Maine-based pre-fab concrete salesman. He paid $12.60 to win the 37th race of his career.
Smart Move (second), Age Is A Number (third) and Ima Tragedy N (fourth) advance to the $12,000 final on Saturday, Oct. 1.
The second $6,000 elimination of the Monsters of the Midway Series #2 went to public choice Cash Crazy Express and driver Aaron Hall.
Leaving from post six, those two blasted out to the lead, set the tempo and withstood mild pressure from a first-over Halliwell Hanover (John Nason) to trip the final timer in 2:01.1.
Trained by Mark Harris and owned by Gayle Harris, the six-year-old Art Major mare paid $4.80 to pick up her 13th lifetime victory.
Halliwell Hanover (second), Dancin Hill (third) and Led Schneppelin (fourth) also advance to the $12,000 final.
Eight combatants tested their mettle in the $5,000 Monsters of the Midway Series #1, with all finishers that entered advancing to the $10,000 final on Oct. 1.
As foreshadowed, that group was led, and ultimately defeated by, Grace Of Art. Driven to victory by Walter Case Jr., the four-year-old Art Major mare overcame some traffic trouble at the half to score from off the pace in 1:59.
Owned and trained by Judson Merrill, she paid $3 to grab her eighth lifetime win.
Golden Tree (Andy Harrington) finished second and Belly Dancer (John Nason) was third.
(First Tracks Cumberland)