by Susan Higgins, director of marketing, Scarborough Downs

Scarborough, ME — Two rounds of eliminations have resulted in a field of the finest seven trotters to compete in the State of Maine. The star-studded cast will line up behind the gate on Saturday, August 15, at Scarborough Downs as the ninth edition of the Joseph Ricci Memorial Trot, New England’s Premier Trotting Event, named in memory of the former Scarborough Downs owner and harness racing benefactor, takes center stage.

“It was generally agreed that last year’s Ricci Memorial attracted the finest field of horses ever to compete in Maine,” said publicity director Mike Sweeney. “I honestly feel that we’ve outdone ourselves this season. From top to bottom this race contains nothing but top level campaigners. A new track record is certainly not out of the question.”

Two of last year’s contenders return to compete for the coveted $50,000 purse. Kerogen, the 6-year-old two-time defending State of Maine Trotter of the Year will take dead aim on the Ricci Memorial crown for an unprecedented third consecutive year, while Scorpion Moon, whose 150 lifetime starts has earned him a bankroll of over half a million dollars, will also be seeking the crown. Last weekend he fired off a brilliant 1:58.2 effort fresh off a five month hiatus. He makes his second bid at Ricci glory after falling just a head short of Likeabatoutofhell in last season’s edition of the biggest horse race in New England.

Added to the field are two Maine-bred entries from the Bill Varney/Valerie Grondin stable — Pembroke Prayer, who narrowly missed out on last year’s entrance into the final, was the 2006 winner of a division of the Meadows’ Arden Downs Stakes, and also grabbed top honors that year in Kentucky Sire Stakes action, besting Prayer I Am and Onawingandaprayer; and Pembroke Spice, the only mare among the bunch, who won the second leg of the $10,000 series last weekend. In 2007 she raced against Godiva Hall in Dover’s Matron Stakes, finishing a close second to her in the elimination. She also posted a second place finish in Tioga’s Zweig Memorial.

Another impressive entry is the British import BatalJ Launcher, a 10-year-old who was bred in the trotting bastion of Sweden before launching his career along the harness circuit of Great Britain. This son of Tap In won five of eight starts during his 2007 British Isle campaign, including back-to-back wins at Tir Prince in Wales before jetting across the Atlantic to race victorious in his first five North American contests. He has become a mainstay of the Preferred level at Yonkers and has now won an ultra-impressive 36 races from only 69 career starts, a percentage of wins that only Kerogen can equal, having won 46 of 89 starts himself.

The veteran trotter Karpathos never competed in Stakes, Invitationals or Late Closers; in fact his entry into this year’s Ricci marks his first appearance in a named race of any kind. But he’s been a phenomenal success at the Open level at Pompano in recent years and changed hands six times via the claim box. Top trot driver Ivan Davies has piloted him to top-three placings in both Ricci elimination rounds.

Rounding out the field is Creditable Winner who takes no backseat when Grand Circuit credentials are compared, having finished second in a division of the Bluegrass Stakes at Lexington in 2006 before racing in the Old Oaken Bucket at Delaware, Ohio in 2007. He was stakes placed along the tough New York Sires circuit as a 3-year-old campaigner and has quickly become a mainstay in the Open level contests along the New England harness tour. This Maine-owned trotter makes his second attempt at the Ricci this year, having missed the cut in the 2007 elimination rounds.

First post for the 12-race program is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. with the $50,000 Joseph Ricci Memorial Trot carded as race 10.

The $50,000 Joseph Ricci Memorial
Post-Horse-Driver-Trainer-M/L
1-Pembroke Prayer-Heath Campbell-Valerie Grondin-7-1
1A-Pembroke Spice-Heath Campbell-Valerie Grondin-7-1
2-Creditable Winner-John Beckwith-John Hanning-7-1
3-Karpathos-Ivan Davies-Jon Chenard-5-1
4-BatalJ Launcher-Shawn Gray-Joseph Nelson-9-5
5-Kerogen-Kim Ireland-Wendy Ireland-3-1
6-Scorpion Moon-Kevin Switzer, Jr.-Patricia Switzer-5-2