May 28, 2026, by Chris Tully, for First Tracks Cumberland
(Joe Shaw photo)
CUMBERLAND, ME – Nearly every weekend this spring Maine’s best trotters have bumped bridles at Cumberland Raceway, with the two top dogs–Big Al M and Brutalizer at the center of skirmishes. Once again on Friday (May 29) the $7,000 featured Winners Over Trot will go postward with either one of the accomplished steeds being sent off as the favorite.
The Sara Harrington-trained Brutalizer (2-1, Andy Harrington) enters the fray with three wins on the season, two of which were against Big Al M (5-2, Zach Vickerson). However the latter used a ‘catch me if you can’ strategy to take last week’s tussle, and thus assumed the current bragging rights.
Vickerson’s Big Al M also has three wins on the season with $537,430 earned lifetime, but starts from post six, whereas his nemesis Brutalizer ($147,702 lifetime) is just inside at post five. The event is slated as race seven on an 11 race program.
On Friday, the exotic wagering action starts with a Pick-5 in the opener, then the Pick-4 is set for the last four races on the program (races 8-11). The Pick-3 begins in race nince, and all boast a low 16% takeout. In addition, the 20-cent Superfecta is available in races four, six, and eight, along with a Pentafecta in races five and the finale.
Looking ahead to the following race date, the $7,000 feature on Saturday (May 30) is the ‘Winners Over’ in race eight, pitting Jones Hanover (5-2, Kevin Switzer Jr.) against Married Man (2-1, Nick Graffam) who won last week’s contest by a measured half-length in a seasonal best 1:55.2.
First Tracks Cumberland hosts their final Friday-Saturday racing schedule this weekend. Next month the schedule reverts back to Saturday-Sunday cards for the remainder of the meet.
Except for special occasions, first post is generally 12:15 pm (EDT) during the extended pari-mutuel meeting, which runs through August 2.
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