by Jack Ginnetti

MARLBOROUGH, MA. – Call it the calm before the storm, but come Sunday the spotlight will be on the finals of the Maine Standardbred Breeders Owners Association (MSBOA) stake finals for 2-year-olds.

Two divisions of the MSOBA stakes were run August 27 with $99,288 awarded, and Sunday four divisions featuring two pacing and two trotting events will vie for some $200,000 in purse money.

Sunday’s running of the MSBOA stake finals at Scarborough will highlight New England’s major purse events that have been run over the past two weeks.

On August 27, Snap Dancer won the $50,000 Joseph Ricci Memorial Trot at Scarborough Downs; September 2, Ambro Barrister was timed in 1:55 while winning the $50,000 Joseph Carney Memorial Trot at Rockingham; and September 3rd, Maltese Artist won the $75,000 Bert Beckwith Memorial Invitational Pace at Plainridge Racecourse.

Maine born Peter Blood, a noted driver-trainer in New England before leaving in the 1980s for Pompano Park in Florida, seemed to put New England racing in its proper prospective when interviewed after the ‘Beckwith saying “the horse seems to come first here, and the fans are so much friendlier.”

– Call it the calm before the storm, but come Sunday the spotlight will be on the finals of the Maine Standardbred Breeders Owners Association (MSBOA) stake finals for 2-year-olds.

Two divisions of the MSOBA stakes were run August 27 with $99,288 awarded, and Sunday four divisions featuring two pacing and two trotting events will vie for some $200,000 in purse money.

Sunday’s running of the MSBOA stake finals at Scarborough will highlight New England’s major purse events that have been run over the past two weeks.

On August 27, Snap Dancer won the $50,000 Joseph Ricci Memorial Trot at Scarborough Downs; September 2, Ambro Barrister was timed in 1:55 while winning the $50,000 Joseph Carney Memorial Trot at Rockingham; and September 3rd, Maltese Artist won the $75,000 Bert Beckwith Memorial Invitational Pace at Plainridge Racecourse.

Maine born Peter Blood, a noted driver-trainer in New England before leaving in the 1980s for Pompano Park in Florida, seemed to put New England racing in its proper prospective when interviewed after the ‘Beckwith saying “the horse seems to come first here, and the fans are so much friendlier.”