Bangor, ME – Driver Aaron Hall is giving new meaning to the old raceway term, “sitting chilly in the sulky”, especially when he steps out on the track with the aptly named Cool Man Dude, who on Friday (June 12) ran his skein of consecutive winning scores to five with yet another brilliant gate-to-wire demolition of Bangor Raceway’s best and brightest upperclass set.
Leaving in lockstep with JK Objection (Heath Campbell), Cool Man Dude jockeyed to the quarter-pole through a brisk :27.3 opening clocking before gaining strategic control of what was soon to become another jog through historic Bass Park.
With Hall barely twitching a muscle, Cool Man Dude imperceptibly accelerated into identical :28.4 third and fourth panels, eventually striding in-hand to a 2-1/2-lengths margin at the wire, timed in a breezy 1:56.
The win was the fifth consecutive score for the Steven Vafiades trainee, who was claimed for $6,000 on April 25 by owners Michael and Scott McGee, and has since powerfully risen through Bangor’s claiming ranks to become the current master of the optional $15,000 set.
Cool Man Dude, an 8-year-old son of Western Vintage, won for the 40th time in his career on Friday. Impressively, his 12 seasonal scores currently lands him in a second pace tie for most wins by an aged pacer in North America.
In other Bangor news, Hall has been on a rampage himself this week at Bangor Raceway, winning four races during the Wednesday (June 10) card followed by three top tallies on Friday. His productive week has elevated him into third place on the Bangor Raceway leaderboard with 20 local wins, trailing just current top dog, Heath Campbell (26 wins) and McGwire Sowers (22 wins).
The Maine Sire Stakes program makes its 2026 debut at Bangor Raceway on Wednesday (June 17) as the 3-year-old colt pacing division invades the Queen City oval. We anticipate at least two splits of stakes stars to be strutting their stuff on Wednesday for purses expected to be in excess of $15,000 per dash.
Live harness racing at Bangor Raceway during the month of June will be conducted on a two-day-per-week schedule with the Wednesday cards going to post at 3 p.m. (EDT) and the brand new Friday matinee performances kicking off at 12:10 p.m.
Bangor’s traditionally well-attended Sunday programs will be on hiatus until the month of July.
For those not able to come to the track, wagering and live video for Bangor Raceway, as well as hundreds of harness and thoroughbred racetracks across the world, is available on Hollywood Races at www.hollywoodraces.com.
For complete information regarding live racing, simulcast wagering, gaming, dining, and hotel accommodations at Bangor’s Hollywood Casino and Raceway, please visit the website at www.hollywoodcasinobangor.com.