Bangor, ME — From the now shuttered County Raceway in Presque Isle, Maine and all the way south to the former winter capital of harness racing at Pompono Beach, Fla., Respectable Dream has stamped his imprint while scoring wins at 15 different tracks across the nation. His career has outlasted three of the venues he once won races at (add Scarborough Downs to the above list), yet his enthusiasm for winning has never abated. And on Sunday (Sept. 8) at Bangor Raceway, he won for the 55th time in his remarkable career.
The win was the seventh consecutive victory for the 13-year-old son of If I Can Dream who is owned and trained by Mary Beth Ranger and regularly piloted by her husband, Bruce Ranger. It came in typical gate-to-wire fashion (41 of Respectable Dream’s 55 wins have come right on the engine) as the veteran reinsman permitted the veteran warhorse a controlled carouse through legitimate fractions over the fast-rated course.
Maintaining a minimum of a length advantage throughout the mile, Respectable Dream girded for a first-over salvo fired by Bet On Success (Drew Campbell) off the five-eighths turn but the outer flow could not make headway. He then set his mind to discourage the pocket-sitting strategy of Vel Miss Taylor (McGwire Sowers) while speeding away from the field in deep stretch, and extending out to an in-hand 2-1/4 length margin at the wire in 1:57.2.
Respectable Dream, sent to the gate as the prohibitive 2-5 favorite, did not disappoint his backers, who happily cashed $2.80 win tickets in reward for their confidence. And while the cagey campaigner remains in this incredible groove, it may be quite some time before Respectful Dream ever disappoints again.
In other Bangor news, driver Drew Campbell continued his sizzling September at Bangor Raceway, winning three races on Sunday’s card to complement his grand slam effort on Saturday and yet another hat trick last Wednesday. Campbell’s ten wins during the truncated meet trumps Kevin Switzer Jr’s nine top tallies with one day remaining in the September soirée.
Bangor’s short September soirée meet will conclude on Wednesday (Sept. 11) with a 3 p.m. starting time. Maine’s harness racing circuit will then embark upon its fall fairground swing starting with the Farmington Fair meet which commences on Sunday (Sept. 15) and runs daily through the following Saturday with post times slated at 2 p.m.