by Michael M. Sweeney, for Scarborough Downs

Scarborough, Maine — The first legs of the 3-year-old division of the Maine Standardbred Breeders Stake were contested at Scarborough Downs on June 30 with the ensuing three and one-half months dedicated to winnowing out the best of the best through repeated heats and trials of elimination.

On Sunday (October 14) the top eight point earners gathered together for one last test to determine supremacy, but as the afternoon progressed, one fact became clear: seasonal form and popular conjecture would mean nothing as the longshots would rule on Stakes Final Day.

Waldo began the parade of price player delights by convincingly capturing the $69,389 colt trotting title as an errorless performance by driver John Nason turned a 9-3/4 length advantage into a jiggy-jog through the storied Scarborough Downs stretch. Owned and trained by Linwood Perkins of Cornish, Maine, Waldo actually broke his maiden during this most important engagement, lighting the tote board at 40-1 odds.

“He picked a great day to break his maiden,” said Perkins. “We always knew he was fast enough but we’ve been working on two bowed tendons throughout the summer and missed all but one of his stakes races. The timing just worked out perfect to get him back just in time for today’s race.”

Cranmeadow Raven continued the rompaway trend as the pride of owners Sandra and David Hall cruised toward the wire in a 16-3/4 length frolic in the $69,405 filly trotting division. Driven by provisional driver David Hall, the daughter of Snores restored some measure of order to the mutuel payouts by scoring at relatively modest 9-2 odds.

“This is our first stakes final win,” said Sandra Hall, proprietor of the prolific Cranberry Meadow Farm. “The top yearlings from our breeding operation are generally sold, but no one wanted to buy Raven, giving us the chance to race her ourselves. I know that David and I are truly thankful for the season that we’ve had and the opportunity to campaign this nice filly.”

Red Bird Of Buxton rewarded the punters’ confidence as top catch-driver Jason Bartlett engineered a surprising gate-to-wire strategy in a speed-filled field to lay claim to the filly pacing title as the 3-1 third choice. Owned by Patrick Leavitt of Buxton, Maine, and trained by Hall of Famer Donald Richards, the filly took a brand new lifetime mark of 1:59.3 on Sunday.

“The Red Bird Of Buxton was involved in an accident at the beginning of the season and I give all the credit in the world to Don Richards and Donna Fenderson for keeping her fit and on the track,” said Patrick Leavitt. “Maine will never see another horseman quite like Don Richards. He’s one of the best and we’ve been extremely fortunate to have been able to enjoy his work for all these years.”

The tote board once again got a workout during the colt pacing event as Joe’s The Best lived up to his moniker with a 19-1 rallying effort for owner/trainer Gerald Kilgore of South Paris, Maine. Catch-driver Kevin Switzer would ultimately work out the perfect trip en route to urging a new lifetime mark of 1:59.2 from the Maine-bred gelding.

“This is the first time I’ve ever sat behind this horse,” Switzer said. “We benefited from a fast early pace and when I asked him to go he responded. After we cleared the pack around the last turn I could hear the crowd cheering. I guess we were a pretty popular winner.”

New England’s stake season concludes on Saturday, October 20, as the New England Sulky Championships make their annual visit to Scarborough Downs featuring contests for New England sired 3-year-olds.

Scarborough Downs proudly features live harness racing every Saturday through Tuesday afternoon throughout the fall season. First post time is 12:05 p.m. (EDT).