Cumberland, ME – Maine-bred pacing fillies take center stage over the weekend card at Cumberland Raceway, with the 2-year-old distaffs racing Friday (July 11) and the Saturday (July 12) program hosting the sophomore filly sidesteppers.
Friday’s program kicks off at the regular 3:15 p.m. post time with two $11,448 divisions of the Maine Sire Stakes for freshmen pacing fillies. All 10 participants are making their first pari-mutuel start, as well as their first purse race.
Once again, daughters of Dude’s The Man are not in short supply. Three such foals by the Adios-winning sire start in the first division, with Heymickeyyousofine (3-1, John Nason) having the swiftest winning qualifier of the group.
In the second $11,448 division for 2-year-old pacing fillies the morning-line favorite is McKenna Jeanne (5-2, Heath Campbell), who is trained by Gary Hall. The Dude’s The Man lass won her qualifier last week by over six lengths and has had two such preparatory outings.
A $7,500 Pop Up Final Trot highlights the overnight racing action, with Namesmuscle (5-2, Aaron Hall) the favorite in lieu of his recent wire-to-wire effort.
The Saturday (July 12) program features two $11,926 divisions of the Maine Sire Stakes for 3-year-old pacing fillies.
Leanne Marie (3-1, Mike Cushing) drew pylon position in the opener, and currently sits second in the point standings. Third place belongs to Chasing Dudes (2-1, Nick Graffam), who scores from post five in the week four Maine-bred test.
In the second $11,926 division the series leader, Lysiun, with three straight wins to her credit gets a new pilot in Aaron Hall for trainer Heidi Cushing. The daughter of Dude’s The Man has been installed as the 8-5 favorite, despite having drawn the outside post six.
For punters, there is a Trifecta in all races, and the program also features a surplus of exotic wagers. Cumberland’s Pick 5 begins with the third race and continues with our Pick 4 and Pick 3 toward the tail end of the program and concludes with our High-Five Pentafecta in the final race – all with low 16% takeouts.
Live video and replays can be found on our website: firsttrackscumberland.com on the Live Racing / Video Replays tab.
First Tracks Cumberland’s summer meet will continue throughout the summer months with regular racing on Friday and Saturday each weekend. A card has been added for Sunday, July 27. First post is 3:15 p.m. (EDT) during the extended pari-mutuel meeting, which runs through Aug. 2.