The $10,000 for 10,000 Bruce Ranger Open Pace turned out to be a battle of the Pine Tree State’s pacing stars as The Bird Dance N defeated some of the area’s swiftest sidesteppers on Friday (May 26) at Cumberland.
Homegrown reinsman Nick Graffam started Saturday’s (May 20) Cumberland program needing just one victory to push him over the edge to the 1,000-win threshold. That moment finally arrived in the eighth race, where a horse named Four Finger Floyd put the Maine-native into the four-figure win category.
Nick Graffam won the featured $6,500 Winners Over Pace on Friday (May 19) at Cumberland with The Bird Dance N, putting the local reinsman just one win away from the 1,000 lifetime win benchmark.
The Maine faithful may trade crab cakes for ‘Lobstah’ rolls, but that won’t stop fans and bettors from enjoying the Preakness Stakes on Saturday (May 20) at Cumberland Raceway.
Several weeks ago Bruce Ranger was asked when he may reach his historic 10,000 harness racing wins plateau. Like a wise soothsayer he replied, “It will probably happen at Plainridge.” While sitting at 9,997 and with a full dance card on Tuesday (May 9) at the Bay State oval, Ranger went to work. Sure enough, the Maine-native reinsman took matters into his own hands, literally, and won the second, fourth and sixth races at Plainridge to become just the nineteenth driver in the storied history of the sport to reach a five figure dash win total.