Frederick H. Ward Jr.’s Gowestyounggrace was the wagering favorite in the first of two $16,000-plus divisions of the Maine Sire Stakes for 3-year-old pacing fillies on Sunday (June 30) at Bangor, but to say that this filly has a special place in his owner-trainer-breeder’s heart would be a glaring understatement.

The National Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association (HBPA) has filed a Petition for Rulemaking under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), requesting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to create no-effect thresholds. A no-effect threshold, also known as a no-effect screening limit or no-effect cutoff, is a laboratory testing detection level below which no owner or trainer will be punished for innocent and pharmacologically irrelevant concentrations of foreign substances that have no effect on a horse.

The featured event on the Sunday night (June 30) program at Running Aces was the Ron Banks Memorial FFA mares pace final, which boasted a very accomplished field of nine distaffers lining up behind the gate to battle it out for $35,000 in purse money. Illusion Seelster dug in gamely to win the race in 1:51.

Geralds A Keeper and Cloggs For Real captured their respective $10,000 first-round Maryland Sire Stakes events for 3-year-old colts and geldings on Sunday (June 30) at Ocean Downs, giving owner Kelsey Wagner and trainer John Wagner a stakes double.

Two-year-olds saw their first stakes action on the last day of the first half of the year at Pocono Downs at Mohegan, Pennsylvania on Sunday (June 30). There were three $30,000 divisions of a Pennsylvania All-Stars event for baby trotting males.

Pearly Allen, Frank Tsipouras and Yogi Sheridan each won one of the three $7,500 divisions for the American Harness Drivers Club at Harrah’s Philadelphia on the undercard of Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action Sunday (June 30).