March 14, 2026, by Chris Tully, for First Tracks Cumberland
CUMBERLAND, ME – Nine qualifying races are carded and ready to roll at First Tracks Cumberland (Maine) on Sunday (March 15). Forty seven horses filled the entry box for tomorrow’s 11:00 am post time, which will be broadcast in its totality on the Racetrack Television Network.
For the USTA race pages and past performances, go to our website:
With the upcoming Spring meet at Cumberland taking shape, a wide array of age groups are represented in the opening round of qualifiers. The card sports a handful of promising 3- and 4-year-olds, all the way up to a contingent of 12- and 13-year-old veterans who are ready to take on the teletimer and their peers in the first harness racing action in the state of Maine for 2026.
Race Secretary Andrew Topham has assembled the entrants into seven pacing races and a pair of trotting events for the Down East faithful.
In the opener a daughter of Bettor’s Wish is the card’s lone sophomore, named Odds On King Cobra, she scores from post two. The Eric Bickmore-trained distaff gets the services of Dave Ingraham, who will be looking for career dash win milestone 8,000 when the extended pari-mutuel meet opens next Saturday (March 21).
Trainer Bob Marston tops the trainer’s list with ten entrants on the program. Most of his get the services of leading driver Kevin Switzer Jr., the swiftest of which appears to be Bamski p,1:51 ($462,544) in race six.
Race six also sees veteran Cigars And Port ready to embark on his 9-year-old campaign for the Watson Stable. The son of So Surreal is the richest Standardbred to go behind the Wes Brown starting gate, sporting $534,540 in lifetime earnings. He meets Commander Cathy N (Aaron Hall) who earned $53,329 last year for trainer Jamie Gerard who has nine in-to-go.
Race seven contains 2025’s richest seasonal earning trotter in Brutalizer who scores from post four. Trained by Sara Harrington (six entrants) and driven by Andy Harrington, the 5-year-old son of Alarm Detector grabbed eight wins and $73,319 last season, including two-in-a-row in December at Cumberland. Of course, other familiar faces include Foxy Trotting Stick (Aaron Hall) and To My Credit (L. MacDonald).
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.
A complete calendar and additional information can be viewed by visiting our website:
