by Michael Sweeney, for Scarborough Downs

Scarborough, ME — Kerogen, Maine’s 2007 Trotter of the Year, continued his march toward perfection on Friday (May 23) by claiming his sixth consecutive Open-level victory at Scarborough Downs.

Derek Davis photo

Kerogen cruised to a four length victory en route to his sixth consecutive win.

Driver Kim Ireland wasted little time in pursuit of the victory, sending Kerogen quickly off the gate to cross over to claim the lead before even reaching the first turn on Scarborough’s half-mile track.

The race was uneventful from that point on as Ireland throttled his trotter up and down to dominate the field with the outcome never in serious question. REL Free Delivary (Jason MacDougall) claimed his fourth consecutive runner-up placing to Kerogen while Foreign Authority (Ronald Patoine) rallied to complete the trifecta in his first start of the season.

Kerogen is owned by Lew Hayden and is trained by Wendy Ireland. The 5-year-old son of Lindy Lane was sent to the gate on Friday as the prohibitive favorite returning $2.10 across the board while keying a $5.00 exacta payoff.

The win was one of two on the program for the Ireland Stable as they also claimed victory in the back-up class on Friday with Ray Ireland’s He’s Ah Corker, a former star of the Maine Breeders Stakes program and perennial powerhouse in the New England Preferred level events.

Scarborough Downs proudly features live harness racing every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening at 4:15 p.m. (EDT). The popular Sunday matinees feature a 1:30 p.m. post time.