by Wendy Ireland, executive director, MHHA

Augusta, ME — An exciting day of harness racing action is on tap for Saturday (July 21) at Bangor Historic Track. The final day of the summer meet will be highlighted by the 18th annual, $25,000 Paul Bunyan Invitational.

An impressive field of eight pacers will go to post in Saturday’s 12th race. The early favorite is Silent Swing, who is fresh off a win in the Mid-Summer Classic at Scarborough Downs in a time of 1:54.1. Owned by David Shea and Mark Ford, this veteran 10-year-old has a storied history as a winner of more than $1.7 million.

Making their debut on the Maine circuit are Mambo Italiano, owned by Mark Reynolds and trained by Heidi Rohr, and Firethorn, owned by JP Stables and trained by Charles Symes. The newcomers will have to compete against Maine’s best open pacers.

Here is the field:

Post-Horse-Driver-Trainer
1-Mambo Italiano-Shawn Thayer-Heidi Rohr
2-Mr Nice Guy-Kevin Switzer-Kim Ireland
3-Art’s Sake-Ron Cushing-Ron Cushing
4-Cactus Creek-Chris Nye-Jamie Gerard
5-Wholly Louy-Gary Mosher-Joe Nelson
6-Silent Swing-Heath Campbell-Valerie Grondin
7-Firethorn-John McDonald-Charles Symes
8-Malek Hanover-Kevin Switzer Jr.-Philip Sowers

The Paul Bunyan Invitational is Bangor’s most prestigious event and has produced many track records including a 1:52.4 mile by Chewy Gross. Along with the Invitational, Bangor is featuring the John Hopkins Memorial Trot and three divisions of the Maine Sire Stakes for 3- year-old colt pacers.

Post time for Saturday’s race card is 5 p.m.