Maine sophomores battle at Cumberland
September 29, 2022,Cumberland, ME — Two divisions of 3-year-old pacers went postward during the Cumberland Fair week, with a familiar face and a new star making headlines on Wednesday (Sept. 28) in the $18,000-plus Maine Breeders Stakes.
Deal With It Roman (Walter Case Jr./Marc Tardif) vaulted to the top of the leaderboard with his wire-to-wire score in the $18,554 MSBS 3-year-old colt and gelding pace. The son of Western Maverick left from post three and was guided through comfortable fractions of :29.1 and 1:00.2 in the opening panels.
Tardif’s homebred Deal With It Roman was tied for second place at 287 points in the divisional standings with Bandolito Blaze (Heath Campbell/Valerie Grondin) leading into the race. Campbell put his mount into motion and began the outer flow moving into a 1:29.3 third stanza, and was just a half-length from the leader. Case tapped the accelerator and pushed his charge into another gear and sped away from the pack to win by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:59. Daughtry (Ron Cushing/Heidi Gibbs) finished second; CBF Squirt Gun (Nick Graffam/David Crochere) was third.
Owned, trained and bred by Marc Tardif, Deal With It Roman (as part of an ownership entry) paid $3.40 to win for the sixth time this season and passes Use Yah Blinkah in the point standings to take the lead.
Cowgirl Rides Again upset the favorite Sweet Baby G to win the $18,972 MSBS 3-year-old filly pace, and picked up her first lifetime victory in the process.
Driven by Shawn Thayer from post three, the daughter of Baron Biltmore sat a perfect two-hole trip behind the favorite to tip out in the lane and win by three parts of a length in 2:00.3. Sweet Baby G (Walter Case Jr./Fred Ward Jr.) finished second; Sheza Rebel (Andy Harrington/Marc Tardif) was third.
Owned, trained and bred by James Smallwood, Cowgirl Rides Again paid $20.40 to win.
Race seven saw a dead heat for win between Bay Brute (Walter Case Jr.) and Nets Of Passion (Dave Ingraham) in a swift 1:55.2, which is the fastest dead heat for win in the history of Cumberland Raceway.
Walter Case Jr. had three wins on the nine-race card, and Aaron Hall enjoyed a driving double.
First Tracks Cumberland, with cooperation from the Maine Standardbred Breeders Association and the Maine Harness Horsemen’s Association, hosted a live draw of the $240,000-plus Maine Breeders Stakes for the 2-year-old divisional finals to be held on Saturday (Oct. 1). The entries can be viewed here.
Racing resumes Thursday (Sept. 29) with two divisions of the Maine Breeders Stakes for 3-year-old trotters, with one early non-betting race for distaffs at 12:15 p.m. Regular post time is 1 p.m. for the remainder of the Fair meet, which runs through Sunday (Oct. 2).
First Tracks Cumberland’s winter festival reconvenes on Sunday (Nov. 6), following a Friday, Saturday, Sunday racing schedule through Christmas Eve (Dec. 24). Winter post times will be 11 a.m.
More information can be found on our website at firsttrackscumberland.com and on our Facebook page: First Tracks Cumberland.