Racing continues at the iconic Cumberland Raceway on Saturday (Nov. 6) with two divisions of the Maine Amateur Driving Club (MADC) as well as a $5,500 conditioned trot that marks the return of several fan favourites over the 11-race card.
Cherry Crown Jewel returns to her preferred oval where she took three of her five seasonal victories, drawing pylon position in the opener. Driven by regular pilot Matty “Ice” Athearn, the nine-year-old daughter of RC Royalty has 38 wins lifetime and earnings of $225,270. Trained by Gretchen Athearn for Bill “Yarmouth Lumber” Phipps, Cherry Crown Jewel has been installed at 7-2 on the morning line.
One of the mare’s seasonal rivals has been the flashy seven-year-old Bruizn (Post 6, Andrew Harrington, 3-1), who is known to leave the gate swiftly and comes into this race off a victory and a third place finish in his last two outings. The 23-time winning son of Musclini is trained by Kim Ireland for Dennis and Deborah Foss.
Rounding out the top three is Bend In The River (Post 5, Nick Graffam, 5-2) who never appears to have missed the board in any recent outing. Owned and trained by Stanley Whittemore, the eight-year-old son of Southfork has six wins and five seconds in 17 seasonal starts.
The first race is also the start of the 50 cent Pick 5, as well as Exacta and Trifecta wagering in every race on the program.
The first division of the Maine Amateur Driving Club (MADC) has the mare Patanjali N (Post 5, David Sawyer, 5-2) looking to return to form after a brief layoff. Having earned more than $43,000 while finishing first or second in half of her 32 seasonal starts the daughter of American Ideal is trained by Chris Lefebvre for his wife Michelle Lefebvre.
Red Dirt Boomer (Post 3, Alex Richardson, 3-1) comes in as the second choice while defending his two-race winning streak. Local trainer Adam Gray drew the rail with his own Bettoriffic and young Michigan-born trainer/driver Dakota Jackson makes his Cumberland MADC debut with his own Rockaholic, scoring from post four.
They will all need to pay attention to three-year-old upstart A Sweet Bidda Luck (Post 2, Scott McKenzie, 7-2) who gets major class relief in this group, but faces older foes, having emanated from tougher competition in the Maine Breeders Stakes glamour boys division as well as $15,000 non-winners of six races at Plainridge.
The second $3,500 Group B division of the MADC pits Zampara (Post 4, Benson Merrill, 5-2) against Dancin Hill (Post 2, Alex Richardson, 3-1) for bragging rights and a shot at the title. Led Schneppelin (Post 3, Mike McGee, 4-1) will attempt to fly in and crowd the runway for Baywood Shadow (Post 1, Derek Howes, 9-2) who will be looking upset from the inside.
As always, the Maine Amateur Driving Club is proudly sponsored by the good folks at Blue Seal Feeds of the Windham and North Yarmouth locations. Trophies will be presented by Aimee Nichols the amiable territory manager for Blue Seal and Kent Feeds.
In addition, the Trackside Pub will host a special benefit for ‘Futures for Standardbreds.’ Round Up donations and raffles will take place during the races, with T-shirt giveaways tossed by winning drivers throughout the event. Founded in 2014, Futures For Standardbreds is a Southern Mained-based nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization that has helped retrain and rehome dozens of Standardbreds when their racing careers are over. This event is held in collaboration with Blue Seal Feeds and First Tracks Cumberland, both of which help support Standardbred aftercare programs.
Harness racing continues at First Tracks Cumberland for its Winter Festival extended pari-mutuel meeting featuring back-to-back cards on Tuesday & Wednesday (Nov. 9 & 10) and continues weekly through December 31, 2021.
(First Tracks Cumberland)