A weekend for the record books at Scarborough Downs

Scarborough, ME — Track record keepers now have their work cut out for them as back-to-back days of equaling track records were set this weekend at Scarborough Downs.

On the boys’ side, 6-year-old On A Tear toured the Scarborough Downs oval in Saturday’s $25,000 Mid Summer Classic Invitational Pace in a blistering 1:54 (Shawn Gray driving), equaling the track record set by Prince Ebony for older stallions in 1990.

Scarborough Downs photo

Shady Sabrina claimed victory in the $6,000 featured pace on Sunday at Scarborough in 1:55.2, equaling the track record for older mares.

Sunday was the ladies’ turn. After an unexpected duel between 5-year-old Keystone Natalie and 7-year-old American Village for much of the mile in the $6,000 featured pace, it was Shady Sabrina (Kevin Switzer trainer/driver) who flew past the wire in 1:55.2, equaling the track record for older mares, set by Yankee Anthem in 2007, who then equaled it herself last season.

A 7-year-old daughter of Cam’s Dignity-Mymymymysharona, Shady Sabrina now boasts 46 career wins (five for the season) and is proudly etched in the record books.

In other news, the CKG Billings Amateur Driving Series made a stop at the Seaside Oval on Sunday as part of their eastern regional tour. Amateur driver Anthony Verruso of Whitestone, N.Y., took the victory in race four aboard Psychic Credit, a 5-year-old gelding owned by Emery Pelletier and trained by Randy Bickmore.

— Michael Sweeney

Cushing sweeps co-features at Tioga

Nichols, NY — Trainer/driver Ron Cushing swept the co-featured Opens at Tioga Downs on Sunday afternoon by winning the Open I and Open II in back-to-back races.

Fred Brown Photography

Our First Falcon N was a 1:52.3 winner for Ron Cushing.

In the Open II (ninth race), Cushing sent the betting public’s third choice, Our First Falcon N, to the front through an opening panel of :28. He then led through middle half fractions of :56.4 and 1:25 before turning on the jets to a final quarter of :27.3 to stop the timer at 1:52.3. Billy Dobson and Art Maker, the pocket sitters, held on for second while Ryan Anderson and Upscale Hanover rallied for third.

It was the third win of the season for the 9-year-old gelded son of Falcon Seelster-Rosa Franco and the second win in a row at Tioga. Ron Cushing co-owns with Kevin Sywyk.

In the co-featured Open I (tenth race), Ron Cushing piloted Cullens Reign N right on down the track, rolling through quarters of :27.2, :56.2 and 1:25 before posting a final quarter in :27.4 to win by a half-length in 1:52.4. It was a new lifetime mark for the 8-year-old Christian Cullen-Sherree’s Reign-Caprock gelding, owned by Stephen Ralph. Prime Time Talent and driver Jordan Stratton sat the pocket and held sway for second while True Desire and Howard Parker rolled from off the pace to finish third.

Besides Ron Cushing posting a driving double, the other races were all won by ten different drivers, showing the diversity of the driving colony on Sunday afternoon’s at Tioga Downs.

— Jason Settlemoir

Slim Down wins feature at Rockingham Park

Salem, NH — Slim Down, who teamed up with trainer-driver Jim Hardy to give him his 2,000th career driving win here one week ago, came back for an encore on Sunday by winning the featured $9,000 trot at Rockingham Park.

Dismissed at 9-1 in the field of six very talented trotters and driven by Hardy again, Slim Down came from far back and wore down 4-5 favorite Whosgoinwhosstayin in deep stretch to prevail by a short neck in 1:56.4 and reward his backers with $21.60.

“He’s coming around now,” said Eugene Hickey, who owns the 7-year-old gelding in partnership with Hardy and Barry Caruso. “He had a lung infection, but we didn’t know about it until about four weeks ago. He was treated with an antibiotic and given a break, so he was a little short last week but held his own.”

If there are horses for courses, Slim Down matches perfectly with Rockingham. With Hardy in the bike, he set the world record of 1:48.1 for the unorthodox distance of 15/16th of a mile here in July 2006 and only one week later teamed with Hardy again to set the New England and track record of 1:55.2 for 4-year-old geldings — a mark that still stands today. He also established his personal best time of 1:54.3 at Rockingham two years ago.

“He loves to race and he loves this track,” Hickey said. “For a $7,000 yearling, he has over-achieved.”

But the son of Yankee Glide and the Esquire Spur mare Maidstone Hall was hardly the barn favorite from the get-go.

“I couldn’t get Jim to even go look at him when he was up for sale,” Hickey explained. “When he came into the ring, Jim told me that if I wanted him, I’d better put my hand up. Jim said that he had a German Shepherd who was bigger than the yearling. There was another Yankee Glide we bought at the same time, and everyone wanted to see him and was talking about him. No one wanted to even look at Slim Down. But within only three weeks, Jimmy was in love with him. He’s been Jimmy’s baby ever since.”

With Sunday’s win, Slim Down captured his 37th victory in 106 starts and increased his lifetime earnings to almost $200,000.

— Lynne Snierson

Fantastic races in the Budweiser Pace

Berlin, MD — Racing at Ocean Downs kicked off in unbelievable fashion Sunday evening as the first leg of the Budweiser Pace was the opening race on the card.

The race began with Lilbtofart and PW Rainbow leading the pack to the quarter pole in :27.3. These two horses continued to set the fractions at the half (:57.4) and three-quarters (1:27.1).

Just after the three-quarter marker heavily favored Master Chad made his move. With rocket like speed, this 3-year-old colt driven and trained by Eddie Dennis came from fourth position to pass other horses, going four wide in the process. Leaving the rest of the pack in his dust, Master Chad ($3.80) stormed to the wire in 1:56.2. Powerful Storm came in second, finishing 15 lengths behind the dominant Master Chad.

After the race driver Eddie Dennis spoke about going four wide to take the lead and the race.

“I thought the lead horses were out of speed and I didn’t want that interfering. I know my horse and what he can do, so I made the move.”

Master Chad will return for the next leg of the series on Sunday, July 19.

The second division of the series also featured a horse trained and driven by Eddie Dennis, Christian Chapel N. Picking up the lead by the quarter in :29.3, Christian Chapel N ($5.20) began to pull away. The 5-year-old gelding was already five lengths ahead of the pack by the quarter pole (1:28.2). Cruising to victory at 1:57.4, Dennis earned a driving double on the evening.

After his performance, Dennis gave his views on Christian Chapel N.

“He hasn’t been doing too well at Harrington, so I think he got a little lucky today. He will be in all the next races in this Budweiser Pace series and I think he’s going to do pretty well.”

— Ozi Menakaya