June 3, 2022, by Chris Tully for First Tracks Cumberland (Stephanie Gray photo)
CUMBERLAND, ME – A change of scenery is all it took for Heartofgold Devie to pick up her first win of the season Friday (June 3), as Steven Wilson steered the 4-year-old Creatine mare to victory in the $6,000 Open II Trot at Cumberland.
Leaving from pylon position, Wilson was happy to let Kyrie Deo (Mark Athearn) take command of the tempo and post opening fractions of 30.1 and 1:00.4. As the field rounded the paddock turn Prescott (Andy Harrington) flushed the cover of Little Macabee (Aaron Hall), which moved the outer flow toward the leaders going down the backstretch in a lively 1:30.1.
With Little Macabee stalled on the outside third, and while looking Heartofgold Devie right in the eye, as the field straightened out into the home stretch, Wilson found room along the inside and poked a neck in front of the pacesetting Kyrie Deo. Little Macabee was third in a tight finish.
Trained by Charlene Cushing and owned by Mona Dodd, the metropolitan invader paid a surprising $28.60 to win.
Earlier in the card, PC’s Wildcard, a 13-year-old son of Sand Chaser, picked up his 50th lifetime victory for trainer/driver Mike Stevenson and owner Eddie Fournier Jr, and paid $18.40 to win. In fact, five of the eleven races on the card paid more than $18 on a $2 win ticket.
Drew Campbell won three races on the program, vaulting him into first place in the drivers’ standings with a total of 22 victories on the season. Bruce Ranger and Steve Wilson both piloted two winners on the day.
Racing resumes Saturday (June 4) at 4 p.m., with the extended pari-mutuel meeting active each weekend through July 23.
The final race on both Friday and Saturday features our 20 cent Hi-Five (Pentafecta), with a low takeout of 16%.
