by Michael Sweeney, for Scarborough Downs

Scarborough, ME — Scarborough Downs swung open its gates for the 68th consecutive year on Saturday (March 31) and was graced by a large and enthusiastic crowd which turned out to witness the splendor and spectacle of harness racing and to cheer the winners home.

While defending driving champion, Drew Campbell, won the first race of the 2018 season with Fox Valley Bailey, it was rookie driver, McGwire Sowers, who stepped into the limelight on Saturday, claiming victory in five of the 10 races programmed, and at one time posting wins in four consecutive races on the card.

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McGwire Sowers pilots Keystone Camaro down Victory Lane on Saturday, one of five wins on the program for the rookie driver.

Sowers’ quintuple performance kicked off in the third race of the day as he cut brisk fractions aboard Falcon’s Luke to stop the clock in a blistering 1:57.1, which was at the time the fastest clocking of the young meet.

He quickly extended his win streak with front running scores behind Jus’ Like A Virgin, Keystone Camaro and Bliss And Luck before closing out the day by engineering another pike effort with Northern Ideal in the finale.

All five of Sower’s winners hailed from the family stable headed by Bo Sowers, the young teamster’s father.

In other notable action at the Downs on Saturday, the fastest mile of the young meet was recorded by the 14-year-old veteran, Kid Courageous A, who stopped the teletimer in a brisk 1:56.1 effort while coming from off the pace for owner/driver/trainer Dan Deslandes.

The win was the 55th career score for the veteran pacer.

Live harness racing will resume on Easter Sunday (April 1) at Scarborough Downs with a 10-race program swinging into action beginning at 1:30 p.m. (EDT)

Scarborough Downs will proudly feature live harness racing on Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. (EDT) throughout the month of April.

For more information, visit www.ScarboroughDowns.com or visit our Facebook page.