Bangor, ME – Driver Michael Stevenson held the hot hand on Wednesday (June 24), whacking three volleys out of historic Bass Park en route to recording a solid hat trick performance.
Stevenson embarked on his trio of top-tallies behind Rest Assured (1:59.4, $8.60), securing a strategic pocket journey behind Pacin Perfect (Kevin Switzer, Jr) and biding his time in the comfort zone while Forrest Blu (Hunter Lofthus), Aintnobetter A (McGwire Sowers) and Woodmere Rocketman (Heath Campbell) each took stabs at softening up the rabbit.
With the wire in sight and the field fanned four across the raceway, Stevenson found the slightest amount of daylight as he threaded the needle to secure the victory by a nose while recording the first win of the season for the David Zuckerman owned pacer.
“From the outside posts, you try to get away as close as you can and thankfully he can scoot a little off the car,” explained Stevenson. “And with four horses charging across the track, strategy gets thrown out the window and you’re just looking for room to race. Thankfully we found that today.”
Stevenson continued his mastery of the outside posts while setting blazing fractions with Jones Hanover ($24.60) from the seven-hole. Carousing off the car, the Mark Harris trainee played catch-me-if-you-can with a pretty accomplished field while blazing through fractions of :27.3, :56.3, and 1:25.4 before coasting to the wire 1-1/2 lengths on top, timed in a seasonal best 1:56.
“He’s pretty strong, he can pace fast, but he’s so strong in the face” Stevenson remarked. “Once you get him to the front, you’re just along for the ride. Getting him to the lead is seldom a problem it’s just seeing if he can hold off the late charge and today he did just that. He raced great.”
Stevenson’s hat trick nightcap came in a leisurely gate-to-wire stroll with Nannie Bernice (1:59, $2.60) who parlayed even fractions into her first win of the season for owner/trainer Janice Hubbard.
“I think a combination of circumstances contributed the win today,” said Stevenson. “The drop in classification was a key, and it was a good post. But Janice made the wise decision to put her horse on Lasix three weeks again and everything came together today.”
Just like everything came together for Stevenson on Wednesday as he punctuated a solid season by cracking the top-10 on the Bangor Raceway leaderboard with his three-bagger performance.
Live harness racing at Bangor Raceway during the month of June will be conducted on a two-day-per-week schedule with the Wednesday cards going to post at 3 p,m, (EDT) and the brand new Friday matinee performances kicking off at 12:10 p.m.
Beginning in July, the Friday programs will be replaced by Bangor’s traditionally well-attended Sunday matinees with post time slated for 12:10 p.m, combined with the Wednesday cards to continue offering racing on a two-day-per-week basis throughout the month of July.
For those not able to come to the track, wagering and live video for Bangor Raceway, as well as hundreds of harness and Thoroughbred racetracks across the world, is available on Hollywood Races at www.hollywoodraces.com.
For complete information regarding live racing, simulcast wagering, gaming, dining, and hotel accommodations at Bangor’s Hollywood Casino and Raceway, please visit the website at www.hollywoodcasinobangor.com.