CUMBERLAND, ME — In preparation for the inaugural First Tracks meeting at Cumberland, qualifiers will be held Saturday, May 1 at 11:30 a.m.
Horseman and fans can view the qualifiers on the Race Track Network channel 9749, or select ‘Cumberland Fair’ on the HD streaming platform’s Simulcast Schedule.
Trotters in the first turn at Cumberland (Stephanie Gray photo)
The Cumberland 56-day meet gets underway on Saturday, May 8 with a 4:15 p.m. post time.
The draw for opening day is Wednesday, May 5. Horsemen must declare their entries by 9:00 a.m.
This year marks the 153rd season of live harness racing at the Cumberland Fairgrounds in Southern Maine.
CUMBERLAND, ME – When presiding judge Charles Malia first started racing horses there were 17 racetracks in New England.
“I got my start with the Thoroughbreds as a hot walker, then a groom and exercise rider,” noted the retired school teacher. “In those days there was a lot of opportunity for young people to get into the sport.”
When Scarborough closed for the runners around 1969 he raced for another decade at Suffolk and Rockingham.
Malia said, “I took on project horses. When others were having difficulty getting one to run, I would buy them and get them turned around.”
HARNESS RACING, c1887.
‘A good race, well won.’ Lithograph by Currier & Ives, c1887.
By the mid-1980s, much of the flat tracks had evaporated so he made the jump into harness.
“I started as a fan at Scarborough and then bought my first harness horse pretty cheap. Her name was Race Me Victoria, a Maine-bred mare who turned into an open pacer. We had a lot of fun. She won 12 races the year we bought her,” Malia recalls.
Following his retirement from scholastics in 1998, Malia started hanging around the race office at Scarborough when Paul Verrette was a patrol judge. From there he worked his way up the officiating ladder and was the Presiding Judge when Scarborough closed in 2020.
Excited about the new era, Malia stated, “Maine racing has had a definite feel of insecurity for a period of time. If things grow with the passion shown by First Tracks Cumberland, Maine horseman will have some security going forward that has been absent for a decade or more.”
Associate Judge Christine Miller echoed those sentiments. “I am looking forward to serving with First Tracks and this new venture, which will hopefully resurrect Maine harness racing.”
Miller worked at Plainridge for six years as the Testing Barn Supervisor for the state of Massachusetts. No stranger to the inner workings of the harness game, Miller jumped at the opportunity to attend the USTA’s Racing Officials Accreditation Program.
“It was an immersive and comprehensive seven day course that was held at the Meadows in Pennsylvania in 2017. Chip Hastings and T.C. Lane were excellent instructors and I left there with the confidence and the knowledge to pursue a second career as a racing official.”
Not one to let her engines idle, Miller also works for a Thoroughbred owner providing marketing services and customer relations. In addition, Miller and her husband (a third generation horse trainer) operate an Equestrian facility specializing in Hunter/Jumpers where they teach kids how to ride and train show horses.
It was at Plainridge where Christine Miller met a gregarious fellow named Frank DuBreuil.
Originally from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Frank DuBreuil knows just about everyone around New England and has ‘been around forever.’ Truth be told, Frank has been around harness racing for half a century. He has been an owner, a trainer, a driver and a racing official.
He rubbed his first horse at Foxboro in in the mid-70s, then bought one and shipped to Maine to race. After several decades of racing horses he landed the position of paddock judge at Plainridge when they reopened in 1999, and held that job through 2015.
A familiar face around New England, Frank works many of the fairs around the state of Maine as an associate judge, presiding judge and sometimes as the assistant racing secretary.
Currently, DuBreuil works the back security gate at Plainridge on Monday, Thursday and Fridays, checking horses in on race days. Soon, he will trek up I-95 to be the paddock judge at Cumberland on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
DuBreuil knows that it takes a tremendous amount of time and effort to put on a race card, but it also takes good people. Just ask Mike Timmons, the former chairman of the Maine Harness Racing Commission.
“Aside from the Trainers, Drivers and Caretakers, twenty different people are responsible for facilitating and executing all the necessary steps in getting a horse race to the gate when the starter says GO!”
Having spent decades as the Director of Harness Racing at the Cumberland Fair, he has been instrumental in ensuring that the ‘show goes on.’ Currently, he is the vice president of the Maine Agricultural Association of Fairs, which oversees 26 fairs throughout the state. He served as president of the Cumberland Fair for 16 years.
When the first horses go behind the gate at First Tracks Cumberland, Timmons will start his new role at his old stomping grounds, that of a USTA accredited Associate Judge.
Once voted the Maine High School Principal of the Year, after retiring from 47 years in education, Timmons moved to a place he first visited in 1953…The Cumberland Fairgrounds, where he now calls home.
“I will have the shortest commute out of any of my colleagues, because I live right on the fairgrounds!”
Horsemen that would like to race horses at First Tracks Cumberland in May are required to complete a Racing Application prior to racing. The first Qualifiers are slated for this Saturday, May 1, with opening day the following Saturday (May 8).
Download the application from the First Tracks Cumberland website at the following link:
CUMBERLAND, ME – Throughout a harness racing career that has spanned nearly five decades, Scott Ehrlich finds himself back where it all started: behind the microphone calling the action in Southern Maine.
Tapped as the new voice of First Tracks Cumberland, the self-taught handicapper and racing enthusiast said, “Things are ‘looking up’ when I am looking down from high atop the grandstand. It’s where I have always loved to be.”
Somewhat of a familiar tone around the state of Maine, Ehrlich has been the back-up announcer at the popular Fryeburg Fair for the last ten years.
But Ehrlich is no stranger to the announcer’s booth having been the primary race caller over the years at Cal Expo, Balmoral and Maywood.
“Much of my early success I owe to Phil Langley, who advocated for me with Billy Johnston and got me into his tracks to announce full time,” Ehrlich remembers fondly. “I grew up in Chicago so it was a great honor work at these prestigious raceways.”
He has also provided backup at tracks throughout the Northeast and Midwest.
It was at Quad City Downs where he got his first big break, calling those races from the late 80s to the mid-90s.
The knowledgeable and affable Ehrlich will also provide live pre-race analysis as well as racing recap publicity for this new era in Maine harness competition.
While Scott is looking forward to his role as the on-air handicapper, he exclaims that he is no ‘average Joe,’ “I like to provide insight that you won’t see in the program…trip notes, time adjustments, etc.”
“From me, you won’t see the generic stuff. Not only will you get my picks, but you get why.”
Ehrlich calls upon his wide range of experiences when working in the industry. Not only are his tip-sheets sought after, but in some instances he has outfitted the horses that he picks!
“I realized that a niche needed to be filled so I started and now am proud to be in my fifth year as owner/operator of Expo Tack shop, serving horsemen and women with horse equipment on the backstretch of Cal Expo,” stated Ehrlich.
In addition, he also owns a few horses. Scott says that, “Since I watch/called what seems like a million races, you get to know what each horse likes/dislikes. Additionally, you become well aware of the trainers and their abilities, not to mention the drivers, as well as little things like current race-bikes, to not so current.”
“And when a horse I see might be racing for a low percentage trainer, and/or driver, and perhaps on a smaller track that doesn’t fit their style, that’s when I’ll buy or claim a horse, who almost assuredly is a closer. You’ll never see me acquire a horse from a top stable that uses a high percentage driver. What advantage is that? I’ve always tried to buy them fairly cheap, and turn them into something good. I’m lucky that it has happened a few times.”
So what else does a guy do that wears several hats in an industry that is spread out from coast-to-coast?
“Time with family of course,” Ehrlich adds. “When I am not working I enjoy spending time with my wife Lisa of 25 years, my three children and two grandchildren.”
To watch one of Scott Ehrlich’s favorite race calls, the 2004 Dan Patch from Balmoral Park, go to:
CUMBERLAND, ME — Marc Reynolds has owned horses for thirty years and intends to bring that passion and knowledge of Standardbreds into the fledgling race office at First Tracks Cumberland.
Reynolds was hired as the new Racing Secretary for the upcoming race meet and the Maine native couldn’t be happier.
“I have always loved the harness racing in Maine. I grew up in the Bangor area and I often attended the live racing cards at the Bass Park Facility. In addition I spent much time (with my Dad) on the road travelling to all of Maine’s agricultural fair tracks.”
Reynolds continued, “I enjoyed it so much that I bought in on my first horse when I was just 18. From that point on I was bitten by the bug.”
That bug’s name was Sid’s Champ, a gelding by Allwin Steady that was racing in $2,000 claimers at the Skowhegan Fair
From that point Marc continued to improve his stock while simultaneously working in the auto industry. Later, Reynolds spent over a decade working as a mortgage professional.
“Eleven years ago I went to the annual Harrisburg Standardbred horse sale and met Mark Weaver [Burke Brigade]”
Reynolds explained, “We quickly hit it off and started talking about racehorses and private sales. That conversation turned into several horses being bought and sold between us and an eventual friendship. A few years later I decided to start working full time as a self-employed bloodstock agent.”
The 47-year-old now calls Saratoga Springs his new hometown.
“I moved to the Spa so I could be closer to my racehorses, and just fell in love with the area and met my soon-to-be wife.”
But the call of the racetrack didn’t stop there.
From 2014 through 2016 Marc Reynolds wore a variety of hats at Bangor Raceway under the tutelage of Racing Secretary Fred Nichols. He stepped into a role as ‘fill-in’ announcer, as well as helping out around the race office.
That experience served him well as Reynolds aims to bring his appetite for harness racing back to Maine.
“I want to incentivize horse ownership in the state of Maine. The Cumberland Track really injects some new life into the sport in Maine and I am committed to helping the race office become part of that renaissance.”
Harness racing passion really does start at the fairs.
CUMBERLAND, ME –With the 153rd season of harness racing at the iconic Cumberland Fairgrounds kicking off Saturday, May 8th the Cumberland, Maine harness track has launched a new website and social media page on Facebook.
First Tracks Cumberland has secured 56 racing dates for 2021 with the Spring/Summer cards set for a post time of 4:15 pm (EDT).
A full calendar can be found at https://firsttrackscumberland.com/racing-info/
Live harness racing will be held Tuesdays and Saturdays through July 31. First Tracks Cumberland collaborated with Bangor in the North and Plainridge in the South to ensure that horsemen had seamless racing opportunities with no overlap.
Racing starts back in November for the Winter Festival, post time 11 a.m. for three, and sometimes four days per week, through December 31.
Be sure to follow First Tracks Cumberland on Facebook @FirstTracksCumberland for all the racing previews, staff profiles and updated information.
