March 30, 2026, by Chris Tully, for First Tracks Cumberland
(Joe Shaw photo)
CUMBERLAND, ME – Nick Graffam orchestrated a mild upset on Sunday (March 29) at First Tracks Cumberland when he sat a patient, pocket trip with Varney to strike in the final strides and prevail by a nose over 1/5 favorite Alex Having Fun in the $7,000 winners over pace.
When the wings folded the heavy favorite was gunned out to the lead by driver Aaron Hall from post eight, shunning a three-hole spot on the cones. Varney (5/2) continued to press onward, forcing the favorite to work for the top into a taxing 27.3 opening panel. By the three-eighths marker, the public choice had made the front. But, at what cost?
As the field settled down to a more reasonable 57.0 half-mile time, Varney continued to stick to the pacesetting Alex Having Fun like glue, with Cigars And Port (Wally Watson) sitting in third with another eight lengths back to the rest of the field.
Down the backside the final time the race for third was stacked up three deep when the leader hit the third stanza in 1:26.2, prompting track announcer Scott Erhlich to exclaim, “It’s a two-horse race.”
The pair battled down the length of the home stretch, stride for stride, wheel to wheel, elbow to elbow. With one final surge Varney got up under the shadow of the wire to win by a whisker in 1:55.1, the fastest mile of the 2026 meet, so far.
Trained and owned by Brian Lamb with partner Eddie Fournier Jr., the 7-year-old son of Huntsville obtained his 14th career victory and collected a seasonal mark. The win put the victor just over $250,000 in lifetime earnings. He paid $7.80 to win.
Cigars And Port was nearly ten lengths back to grab the show dough.
In other news, Todd Whitney won the Maine Amateur Driving Club race with Legal Bettor in 1:57.4, returning $2.80. In addition, young teamster Jason Bertolini nabbed his first score of the year with his own On Line in 2:02.2, paying $15.40.
Driver Aaron Hall enjoyed four wins on the program, with Nick Graffam and Mike Stevenson each picking up doubles. After four racing cards, Aaron Hall and Kevin Switzer Jr. are tied at ten wins apiece in the driver standings. Nick Graffam is third with eight wins.
Racing resumes on Saturday (April 4) with just a single live card this week, as the track will be dark on Easter Sunday (April 5). There will be a Pick-5 carryover of $1,764 for Saturday.
First Tracks Cumberland’s Spring/Summer meet will continue throughout the Spring season with regular racing on Saturday and Sunday each weekend through most of the month of April.
Friday (April 24) marks the start of six weeks of Friday-Saturday racing, through the month of May. After which the calendar 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, replays and additional information can be viewed by visiting our website:
