November 25, 2024 – by Chris Tully, for First Tracks Cumberland (Joe Shaw photos)
CUMBERLAND, ME – The Maine Amateur Driving Club (MADC) was back in action on Sunday (Nov. 24) at Cumberland Raceway, with former national champ ‘Too Tough’ Todd Whitney blasting to a wire-to-wire victory with the odds-on favorite Nagle.
Under bright sunny skies with a brisk breeze the 1-2 public choice left swiftly when the gate sprung amidst a flurry of activity into the first turn. After avoiding the fracas, Whitney and Nagle led the $4,000 MADC field into a :29.1 opening panel and remained in command by a comfortable margin. Lilys Penelope (17-1, Joe Burke) tracked along in the two-hole, with Cache All The Way (7-1, Benson Merrill) sitting anxiously in third.
Merrill tipped Cache All The Way at the 3/8’s pole, with Bass Player (8-1, Marianna Monaco) gapping second over while heading to the 1:00 half-mile marker. Around the 5/8’s turn, Merrill ducked into the gap left by a fading Lilys Penelope leaving Bass Player with no cover. While moving to the 1:28.4 third panel Ryan Berry pulled 29-1 longshot Easteriffic three deep around the stalling outer flow and grabbed the three-hole before the leaders hit the final turn.
From the head of the stretch on homeward, Whitney was sitting chilly and steered Nagle to an easy three length victory in 2:00.1. Trained by Chris Lefebvre for owner Mlefevre Racing LLC, the 8-year-old son of Dali grabbed his 34th career victory. He paid $3.00 to win.
Easteriffic got up in the final strides to be second; Cache All The Way was third.
The $5,500 featured conditioned pace was captured by Bare Bone in 1:59.1. Driven by Walter Case Jr. for trainer Marianna Monaco and owner Room4040 LLC Stables, the 3-year-old son of Lather Up got the ninth win of his career. He paid $3.40 to win.
Drew Campbell picked up another three wins on the mid-day card, inching ever closer to the 6,000 win threshold (now at 5,990). Campbell scored with Twin B Jays (1:58, $2.60), the swiftest race of the day with Sherrif N (1:56.1, $2.80), and Miki De Vie (1:57.2, $3.60).
McGwire Sowers, Aaron Hall and Steve Wilson each grabbed a pair of victories, with Sowers approaching his own 1,000 win milestone, currently at minus five.
Racing resumes on Saturday (Nov. 30) as First Tracks Cumberland’s Winter Festival extended pari-mutuel meeting enjoys weekend action throughout the month of November. Then, Cumberland Raceway will transition to three days of harness racing each week (Fri-Sat-Sun) beginning December 6. The 19-day meet continues through Dec. 22, 2024, and post time is always 10:55 am.
For more information go to our website: firsttrackscumberland.com, or find us on Facebook: @FirstTracksCumberland
