Cumberland, ME – Last year’s leading driver Kevin Switzer Jr. had another big day at Cumberland as the Maine-native took several of the featured races on Saturday (April 25) at First Tracks Cumberland.
The talented teamster started the day with a wire-to-wire romp with Sheriff N in 1:57.2 as the heavy favorite in the opener. The 12-year-old son of Bettor’s Delight paid $2.20 for the 49th win of his career. Owned and trained by Zach Vickerson, the veteran pacer now as $561,883 earned lifetime.
In the $7,000 featured winners over trot, Switzer Jr. was able to get Big Al M home as the 2-5 favorite. Despite some traffic trouble on the backstretch heading into a :28 opening panel, Big Al M went around that early fracas and set the rest of the fractions before cruising to victory in 2:00.2. Paying $2.20, it was the trotter’s 34th career score for owner/trainer Vickerson.
Brutalizer (Andy Harrington) finished a fast closing second; Storm Bringer (Nick Graffam) was third.
A few races later Switzer rolled Jones Hanover to a 1:56.1 score, a seasonal mark and the fourth victory in a row for the 5-year-old son of Huntsville. Owned and trained by David McLellan, he paid $2.20 to win the $6,000 10-12.5k claiming handicap.
Overall, Switzer Jr. had four victories on the 12-race program, with Nick Graffam having a pair. Switzer Jr. led all drivers over the weekend with nine victories, pushing him to within six wins of Graffam who is the meet’s leading driver with 30 wins thus far this season.
In other news Todd Whitney won another Maine Amateur Driving Club event, scoring in 1:56.1 with Gotafoolishdesire. Ken Watson showed fans that Whatawonder was no ‘one hit wonder’ as he scored his second victory in a row, returning $5.20. Luke Varnum blew up the tote board in the finale, sending his own Dynamical Tad to victory from the eight-hole, paying a whopping $87.80.
Racing resumes at First Tracks Cumberland on Friday (May 1) for the second of six weekends of Friday-Saturday racing, which runs through the month of May. After which the calendar reverts back to Saturday-Sunday cards for the month of June.
First post is always 12:15 p.m. during the extended pari-mutuel meeting, which runs through August 2. The lone exception is next week on Saturday (May 2) when the track will offer wagering on the 152nd Kentucky Derby and the full card live from Churchill Downs, with the first post for live harness racing set for 2:45 pm.
A complete calendar and additional information can be viewed by visiting our website: First Tracks Cumberland