by Michael Sweeney, for Scarborough Downs

Scarborough, ME — The guardians of the Maine Sire Stakes program, let loose their freshman colt combatants, to frolic along the seaside oval at Scarborough Downs on Friday (June 30), as the 2-years-olds made their second career stakes starts following up on last weekend’s Bangor debut.

Thirteen colts and geldings were split into two divisions to be contested for twin $10,000-plus purses, in what remains a relatively lucrative, yet somewhat hidden, opportunity along the national sire stakes circuit.

Michael Newman photo

Luceman kicked off an impressive day for his driver Kevin Switzer Jr. on Friday.

Luceman and driver Kevin Switzer Jr. held sway in the opening split, choosing a front-end assault while leading the field twice around the oval in a lifetime best 2:01.1 clocking.

The son of Western Maverick-Perfect Launch deftly made amends for last week’s troubled trip at Bangor, which featured multiple breaks of stride, with a picture-perfect example of steadiness of gate and fortitude in Friday’s Scarborough appearance.

Luceman is owned by Florence O’Keefe and KDK Standarbreds and hails from the roster of noted Maine conditioner, Gordon Corey.

Thankyouallmyfans (E. Davis Jr.) sat second throughout to secure runner-up honors. Secret Assault (S. Gray) made a bold power move up the backstretch before settling for third.

The magic continued for the ownership group of Florence O’Keefe and KDK Standardbreds in the second division, as the consortium doubled their pleasure with their other stable star, Hoppi, who extended his young undefeated season to two consecutive scores. The son of Western Maverick – Barbara Ann was put to the sternest test of his young career as he took determined air in the final panel en route to a brand new 1:58.4 speed standard, but proved more than up to the challenge when the dust had settled.

Hoppi, who is trained by Kevin Switzer Sr., gave driver Kevin Switzer Jr. his five win on the program.

Mylastdime (S.Gray) rallied to secure second while Twelve (E. Davis Jr) dropped back under pressure to finish third.

Maine Sire Stakes action returns to the Downs on Sunday (July 2) as the 2-year-old trotting divisions invade the seaside oval.

Scarborough Downs is pleased to present twilight harness racing cards on a Thursday through Saturday schedule at 4:30 p.m. (EDT) with the Sunday matinee heading to post at 1:30 p.m.

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