As they have done more than a dozen times in the past, Roadshow Vic and Beer League will meet on the racetrack one last time in the $2,000 Geriatric Invitational Trot on Friday (Dec. 31) at Maine’s Cumberland Raceway.
Since this is the last date that these two veteran trotters can officially race in overnight races, racing secretary Marc Reynolds received special permission from the Maine Harness Racing Commission to allow this match race to be held on the pari-mutuel racing program, with win betting only.
Reynolds noted, “We are pleased to be able to give the horses and the horsemen every opportunity to race on the season’s final card. The race office tried valiantly to utilize every entry that dropped in the box. We are especially grateful to the racing commission for allowing us to program this special two-horse event.”
Roadshow Vic is owned and trained by Maine stalwart Mike Cushing, and is usually driven by Steve Wilson. However, the 58-time winner will be driven by Cushing for this special event. The 14-year-old son of Roadshow Hall earned $322,323 lifetime and was bred in Maine by Neal Tranten. Roadshow Vic has seven wins this year and has finished third or better in 14 of 27 seasonal starts.
Just inside him on pylon position is Beer League, a 14-year-old son of Broadway Hall that is owned by Gayle Harris and will be driven in the match race by his trainer, Mark Harris. With $293,080 in lifetime earnings and 43 career victories, the durable veteran had 42 starts this season with one win, 12 second-place finishes, and nine third-place finishes. In fact, his sole victory of the season was at Cumberland, in the mud on Aug. 5, in which he defeated Roadshow Vic by a length.
The $2,000 Geriatric Invitational Trot is carded as race 10, and is followed by the $3,500 Au Revoir Invitational Pace. Two 14-year-olds drew inside — Three New Dawns (7-2, Drew Campbell, post 1) and Panhellenic (3-1, Kevin Switzer Jr., post 2) — and are joined by four more 12-year-olds and older whose post positions were assigned.
Throughout the day, 13 veteran Standardbreds will be recognized for their on-track accomplishments with special presentations and halters with their names engraved given to the connections.
An accomplished group of harness racing stars, these pacers and trotters have collectively earned over $4.2 million for an average of $324,441 per starter. These monsters of the midway have won a total of 646 races from 4,189 starts for an average of 50 wins per horse, sporting an average race record of 1:54.1.
In addition to the aforementioned quartet, Hoboken Hanover, Cool Runnings, Pan Taylor, Fox Valley Primo, Sign To Inverell A, Windsong Gorgeous, Photo King, Trotalot and Classy Kyle will also be feted in the winner’s circle. Some of these retiring 14-year-olds will lead the post parades of earlier races, while others will walk over. Additional horses will also be mentioned in absentia as they have taken new roles with New Vocations or as broodmares.
The battle for driving supremacy at the southern Maine facility has reached its final stanza as Drew Campbell and Bruce Ranger have traded places atop the leader board throughout the month. While Campbell enjoys a short lead over Ranger 72-71, Friday’s 13 races could shake things up.
Aside from the usual plethora of betting products, the match race marks the start of the middle Pick-4. In addition, Cumberland will offer superfectas in the sixth, eighth and 13th races.
Also on Friday, First Tracks Cumberland hosts the final of the Maine Amateur Driving Club, sponsored by Blue Seal Feeds, and will recognize the leading driver and trainer of the meet trackside.
First Tracks Cumberland management has announced that Due to the lengthy, 13-race card scheduled for New Year’s Eve, the track's final card of the season will start one hour earlier than usual, at 10 a.m.
(First Tracks Cumberland)