from harness publicists across North America
Sunday’s (July 31) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Scarborough Downs and Ocean Downs.
A six-pack for Campbell at Scarborough on Sunday
Scarborough, ME — Driver Drew Campbell, a perennial powerhouse, came to the forefront on Sunday at Scarborough Downs, claiming victory in six of the 12 races carded on the matinee program. No stranger to the upper echelon of the leaderboard, Campbell has been absent from the top spot in the driver’s standings going on two seasons now. Sunday, he made a major stride towards reclaiming supremacy at The Seaside Oval.
“Looking at the program this morning I figured I had a shot at having a pretty productive day,” Campbell remarked. “I was listed on a lot of quality animals and I figured all I had to do was put them in the right place in order to be successful. And for the most part, that’s what we did today.”
So dominating was Campbell’s performance that his six-win tally could have easily been extended to nine as the man in orange and black finished a tight second in three other contests on Sunday.
“I was an inch, a foot, and a half-length away from nine wins today,” Campbell continued. “That would have been the most I’d ever won in one day, and I came close. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a big day like this — I was overdue.”
The highlight of Campbell’s day came in the $6,000 Joyce Tiner Memorial Trot, as he steered Victory Tax to a determined top class score in 1:58.4. The 5-year-old son of Victory Sam is owned by Kyle Gibbs and is trained by Steven Vafiades.
Live racing returns to The Downs on Thursday (August 4) with a 4 p.m. post time.
— Michael Sweeney
Ocean Downs
The Memory of R. “Cody” James trotting race ($6,000 purse) was raced at Ocean Downs Sunday night. Victor Kirby drove Beefcake to secure first place in 1:58.4 and paid $15.20 to win. Beefcake is a 5-year-old gelding by Muscles Yankee-Fraulien Bluestone who is trained and owned by Mark Clark. Beefcake has lifetime earnings of $75,454. R. “Cody” James drove horses for 47 years throughout the Mid-Atlantic states. He followed in his father’s footsteps with his love for trotters. His last 25 years of racing were with Stringer Stable of Cambridge, Md. Even after his retirement in 1989, he never missed a summer at Ocean Downs.