Cumberland, ME – Three divisions of the Maine Standardbred Breeders Stake for 3-year-old pacing colts and geldings headlined the action at Cumberland on Saturday’s (July 3) holiday weekend 11-race card.

Call Me Maverick (#6) was the fastest winner in three divisions of the Maine Standardbred Breeders Stakes at Cumberland on Saturday afternoon. Stephanie Gray Photo.

Call Me Maverick returned to his home track after suffering a broken equipment, second-place finish during the previous leg at Bangor, and rewarded his backers with a 1:59.3 come-from-behind win and a $4.80 payoff.

Driven by Mike Stevenson for trainer Gordon Corey and owner/breeder Upland Farm, the son of Western Maverick now has two wins in his last three starts and has vaulted to the top of the point standings in his division.  Leaving from post six to settle in fourth, and ultimately shuffled back to sixth, Call Me Maverick was forced to take matters into his own hands.  While parked sixth and back more than five lengths at the three-quarters, Stevenson came second over with the handy sidewinder and proceeded to track down horses in the homestretch until he got the final call, winning by half a length in the fastest $9,918 division of the day.

Hollywood Skeeter (Nick Graffam) finished second and A Sweet Bidda Luck (Ron Cushing) was third.

American Maverick won his $9,692 division of the MSBS in 2:00.1 for driver Kevin Switzer Jr.  Sent off as the 4-5 favorite, the son of Western Maverick never missed a call leaving from post three and wired the field for trainer Marc Tardif and owner Leighton Property.  He was bred by Leslie Leighton and paid $3.60 to win.

Edelman (Ron Cushing) finished second; Downeast Spirit (Bruce Ranger) was third.

The final $9,918 division was captured by Whatawinwillie in 2:00.3, where driver Kevin Switzer Jr. once again used the overland route and wired the field from post two.  The son of Western Maverick gave trainer Marc Tardif a training double, but he was also the owner and breeder of this sire stakes victor, moving the gelding to within a half measure of second place in the point standings.

Joe Burke, in the winner’s circle with Plus One, swept both of the Blue Seal Feeds Maine Amateur Driving Club races Saturday at Cumberland. Stephanie Gray Photo.

Week six of the Maine Amateur Driving Club series, sponsored by Blue Seal Feeds, witnessed Joe Burke sweeping the action in both races, the ‘A’ and ‘B’ divisions.

In the $3,800 ‘B’ group Burke won from post seven with his own Plus One, bursting from off the pace and charging three wide down the backside to draw off and win by 2-1/2 in 2:00.  Trained by Robert Marston, the 6-year-old son of Somebeachsomewhere now has 16 wins lifetime and paid $4.80 to win.  Sunset Over Miami (Derek Howes) finished second, Putnams Storm (Bob Nadeau) was third.

For the $4,800 class ‘A’ bunch, Joe Burke took a different approach: go to the front and never look back.  Leaving from pylon position, Burke allowed no re-takes as he dictated the fractions with his own Stonebridge Grand and cruised to a three-length victory in 1:57.3.  The third win of the season for the 6-year-old son of Camluck, he is also trained by Bob Marston and paid a whopping $30.60 to win.

Rockin Ellie (Michael Girouard) finished second, Three Day Forecast (Todd Whitney) was third.

This was the first two seasonal MADC victories for driver Joe Burke, who has now assumed command of the point standings, moving up quickly from fourth place.

Returning to Cumberland to make the presentations to the winning amateur connections was Melanie Locke, store manager for both the local Blue Seal feed stores where she presented the ‘swag bucket’ trophies of stable supplies on behalf of the Windham and North Yarmouth Blue Seal Feed stores.

The total cumulative handle at First Tracks Cumberland eclipsed $1 million, and total all-source wagering for the day’s card was $97,000.

Live harness racing from Cumberland is presented each Tuesday and Saturday through July 31, post time is 2:30 p.m., with two additional dates added Wednesday and Thursday (Aug. 4 and 5) with 11 a.m. posts.  For more information go to the Cumberland website: firsttrackscumberland.com.

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