Ron Cushing steered Rock Diamonds N to a nose victory over Twomacsoneshadow to capture the $6,000 Winners Over feature in 1:55.2 at Cumberland on a special Wednesday afternoon card.
The winning time was the fastest of the season at the new First Tracks Cumberland meet, and gave driver/co-owner Ron Cushing his first win over the Southern Maine surface this season.
Trained by Heidi Gibbs and co-owned with Kevin Sywyk, the eight-year-old son of Rocknroll Hanover has now hit the board six times in his last 12 starts. Rock Diamonds N paid $2.60 to win.
One of the highlights of the afternoon was the first training win for 19-year-old Christopher DuBois, who visited the winner’s circle with his own Panhellenic, a 14-year-old son of No Pan Intended. The Mechanic Falls, Maine resident had his father, sister, nieces and nephews join him for the celebration of getting his first victory in 17 tries, with a 20-1 longshot!
Maine icon Bruce Ranger set a track record of 1:56 with Sarahs Lilly to cap a driving three-peat under sunny skies on Cumberland’s first Tuesday (May 11) card.
The $6,000 Fillies and Mares Winners Over saw the five-year-old mare by Hes Gorgeous pace to a wire-to-wire romp to set a new standard for older pacing mares. The wire-to-wire victory also gave the mare’s trainer Ben Merrill three trips to the winner’s circle, where Ben and his wife Lauren also celebrated their wedding anniversary.
Sarahs Lilly was bred by Irwin Kaplan, Merrick, NY and is owned by Moo Coo Inc. (Ellen & Irwin Kaplan) of Merrick, N.Y. She paid $5.20 to win.
Duplicated N has suddenly become peerless at Plainridge Park after handily tackling the best resident pacers in the $20,000 winners-over handicap pace on Monday afternoon to extend his current winning streak to three.
It was pretty much a done-deal from the start as Duplicated N (Bruce Ranger) took control off the gate and never looked back. With Starznheaven (Drew Monti) tripping out on his back, Duplicated N toured the facility in fractions of :27.2, :55.4 and 1:23.1 with little resistance from anyone as the group headed around the last turn. At the top of the stretch, Starznheaven pulled out for his shot at the leader along with Bettors Fire N (Ron Cushing) who was pacing alongside him. But neither could get to Duplicated N, who was cruising along unfazed and hit the line on top by two lengths in 1:51.
Opening day at Cumberland Saturday (May 8) enjoyed a large crowd and widespread support from on-track punters, as well as simulcast outlets, for the nine-race card.
The first extended pari-mutuel meeting, to open in over 20 years that was not owned by a casino, enjoyed mild temperatures that brought several hundred people to the Cumberland Fairground’s apron to enjoy a full day of harness racing.
Over nine races, the swiftest of the day went to iconic driver and Maine-native Bruce Ranger, who steered 12-year-old Ira Chief to victory for trainer Dennis Whittemore and owner Diane Whittemore in 1:57.2. Six races went faster than 2:00 and only two races were won by the betting favourites.
Eurobond made his last pari-mutuel start on November 23, 2020 when he scored a 2-1/4 length victory at Plainridge Park. Now 165 days later it was “deja vu all over again” after the six-year-old horse won Friday’s $17,500 Winners-Over Handicap trotting feature at The Ridge.
Eurobond (Bruce Ranger) got away a distant sixth while two-time feature winner Pappy Go Go (Jay Randall) grabbed the front in a quick :27.2. Positions remained unchanged to the five-eighths when Majestic Marvel (Shawn Gray) pulled first-over followed by Smooth Acceleration (Matty Athearn) and Eurobond, who started his big move.
As the race made its way through the final turn, Majestic Marvel took the lead from Pappy Go Go and Smooth Acceleration then drew alongside him to challenge. But Eurobond was revved up three-deep and trotting under full throttle, looking past his competition. Ranger sat chilly and let Eurobond trot home on his own in a snappy :28.3 final split to win by a length in 1:55.2.