May 30, 2025, by Chris Tully, for First Tracks Cumberland
(Joe Shaw photos)
CUMBERLAND, ME – Vel Miss Taylor puts her four-race winning streak on the line against a host of the state’s faster femme fatales in Friday’s (May 30) $5,000 sixth race for pacing fillies and mares at Cumberland Raceway.
Hailing from the powerful Autym Robinson stable and driven by McGwire Sowers, the 5-year-old black daughter of Ponder has not seen the back of a helmet since late April. Scoring from post four, she is listed as the 2-1 early morning line favorite. With nine wins in 13 seasonal starts, the successful lass has added $24,791 this season to her career bankroll of $106,474.
The second choice is Maggie At Bat (3-1, Aaron Hall) who has been a close second to Vel Miss Taylor on several occasions. Leaving from pylon position is Cash Crazy Express (5-1, Shawn Thayer) who has been hit the board in four of her five seasonal outings.
Friday’s card also features the $5,500 eighth race pace headed by Two Fold Cold (5-2, Dave Ingraham, PP 2) who is always a threat when he behaves himself. Last year he was the undefeated Maine Sire Stakes champion sophomore male pacer. This season he has a win and a second place finish in five starts.
Speaking of Maine Sire Stakes champions, Call Me Maverick (7-2, Mike Stevenson) is back in action for trainer Alison Hynes and finished second last week in his second start of the season. He leaves from post five in this skirmish of former Pine Tree State pacing stars. Time For George (4-1, Walter Case Jr.) has won his last two in a row and will also look to shake things up a bit from post three.
The action kicks off at 3:15 pm on Friday, with a Trifecta in all 11 races, and the program also features a plethora of exotic wagers. Cumberland’s Pick 5 begins with the third race and has a $593.80 carryover. The opportunities continue with our Pick 4 and Pick 3 toward the tail end of the program, and conclude with our High-Five Pentafecta in the final race—all with low 16% takeouts.
Saturday’s (May 31) card also carries 11 events, ten of which are divisions of our Spring Pacing Series Late Closers. There are three divisions of both the $6,500 ‘Baxter,’ and the $6,000 ‘Rockland’ which boast $12,500 finals next week on Saturday (June 7). In addition, there are four $4,000 divisions of the ‘Moosehead’ which has a thousand dollar purse bump every week for the next three weeks, culminating with a $12,500 final on June 28.
Hunter Lofthus is back to defend his leader board status in this week’s $4,000 Maine Amateur Driving Club (MADC) event slated as race two. Lofthus drives Art Of Endurance from pylon position for trainer Benson Merrill and has been pegged as the 2-1 choice.
With a new twist this week, horse trainer and family patriarch Philip ‘Bo’ Sowers tries his hand at driving in the amateur ranks with his wife Tammy’s 15 year-old old Machtu N. Fans may recall that their son McGwire won the $6,000 Au Revoir with the elder son of Mach Three on the final days of the 2024 Cumberland meet. The veteran campaigner amassed $534,637 in career earnings with 65 victories.
The MADC is sponsored by the Blue Seal Feed stores of North Falmouth and Windham, Maine.
Live video and replays can be found on our website: firsttrackscumberland.com on the Live Racing / Video Replays tab.
First Track’s Cumberland Spring/Summer meet will continue throughout the Spring and early Summer months with regular racing on Friday and Saturday each weekend. First post is slated for 3:15 pm (EDT) during the extended pari-mutuel meeting, which runs through August 2.
