March 16, 2026, by Chris Tully, for First Tracks Cumberland
(Joe Shaw photo)
CUMBERLAND, ME – Team Watson’s Cigars And Port helped set the stage for the triumphant return to harness racing in the state of Maine, clocking the fastest race of the nine-race program on Sunday (March 15) at First Tracks Cumberland.
Leaving from post two, teamster Wally Watson wasted little time putting his 9-year-old son of So Surreal on the engine to control the tempo against a handful of the region’s faster older pacers. Hitting the opening panel in :30, the Lisa Watson-trained veteran rolled through the remaining fractions in nearly equal splits, stopping the timer in 2:00.1.
Owned by Fox Ridge Stable and Wally Watson, Cigars And Port was the richest Standardbred to enter the day’s events, boasting $534,540 in lifetime earnings with 29 career victories. Art’s Flight (Andy Harrington) was a fast closing second, with the Joe Burke-driven Circling The Prey finishing third on the track listed as fast.
Team Watson also won the opener with their own Terror Hall in 2:03.3. Finishing a close second was the card’s lone sophomore, named Odds On King Cobra. She was driven by Dave Ingraham, who will be looking for career dash win milestone 8,000 when the extended pari-mutuel meet opens next Saturday (March 21).
The second fastest race of the afternoon was captured by Chasing Goosebumps in 2:00.2. After being parked to the opening panel, driver Andy Harrington cut the remaining fractions and won comfortably with the 6-year-old son of He’s Watching. Trained by Sara Harrington and owned by Gibbs Racing, he finished first or second in a third of his 29 starts last season.
Jet Wills (Kevin Switzer Jr.) finished second; Here On Earth (Nick Graffam) was third.
The top trotting mile of the day was captured by To My Credit in 2:02 with Alex MacDonald driving for trainer Allison MacDonald. The 6-year-old son of Credit Winner earned $27,015 last year with five victories.
Brutalizer (Andy Harrington) finished second; Smooth Landing (Wally Watson) was third.
Opening weekend’s draw for Saturday and Sunday (March 21 & 22), has the entry box closing at 10 am (EDT) on Tuesday (March 17) and Wednesday (March 18) respectively. The condition sheet has been posted on the USTA’s online entry system and can be found at this link:
https://horsemen.ustrotting.com/conditions/index.cfm
First Track’s Cumberland Spring/Summer meet will continue throughout the Spring season with regular racing on Saturday and Sunday each weekend through the month of April. During the month of May the track transitions to a Friday-Saturday slate for those five weeks, after which the live harness racing action reverts back to Saturday-Sunday for the month of June.
First post is slated for 12:15 pm (EDT) during the extended pari-mutuel meeting, which runs through August 2.
