May 12, 2021 – by Chris Tully for First Tracks Cumberland
CUMBERLAND, ME – Ron Cushing steered Rock Diamonds N to a nose victory over Twomacsoneshadow (Kevin Switzer Jr) to capture the $6,000 Winners Over feature in 1:55.2h at Cumberland on a special Wednesday afternoon card. The winning time was the fastest of the season at the new First Tracks Cumberland meet, and gave driver / co-owner Ron Cushing his first win over the Southern Maine surface this season.
Trained by Heidi Gibbs and co-owned with Kevin Sywyk, the 8-year-old son of Rocknroll Hanover has now hit the board 6 times in his last 12 starts. Rock Diamonds N paid $2.60 to win.
One of the highlights of the afternoon was the first training win for 19-year-old Christopher DuBois, who visited the winner’s circle with his own Panhellenic p,1:52.3f ($204,500), a 14-year-old son of No Pan Intended. The Mechanic Falls, Maine resident had his father, sister, nieces and nephews join him for the celebration of getting his first victory in 17 tries, with a 20-1 longshot!
Driven to victory by Kevin Switzer, Jr, Panhellenic paid a whopping $42.00 to win.
The second fastest race of the day was captured by Safety Second in 1:57.1h, a pacing event for $5,000 claimers. Driven by Dan Deslandes for trainer Karl Butterfield, the 6-year-old gelded son of Custard The Dragon is owned by Barry Franklin, Westbury, NY.
Safety Second paid $3.00 to win.
Bruce Ranger enjoyed a back-to-back driving triple on the nine-race card, duplicating his efforts yesterday, including victories both trot races. Heath Campbell had two wins on the card.
Racing from Cumberland continues Saturday, Preakness Day, May 15, first post 4:15 pm. For more information go to our website firsttrackscumberland.com and follow us on Facebook at @FirstTracksCumberland.
Cumberland, ME — Maine icon Bruce Ranger scored in 1:56h with Sarah’s Lilly to cap off a driving triple under sunny skies on Cumberland’s first Tuesday card.
Sarah’s Lilly and Bruce Ranger scored in 1:56 at Cumberland Tuesday. Chris Tully photo.
The $6,000 Fillies and Mares Winners Over Pace saw the 5-year-old mare by He’s Gorgeous pace to a wire-to-wire romp. The victory also gave the mare’s trainer Ben Merrill three trips to the winner’s circle, where Ben and his wife Lauren also celebrated their wedding anniversary.
Sarah’s Lilly was bred by Irwin Kaplan and is owned by Moo Coo Inc. (Ellen and Irwin Kaplan). She paid $5.20 to win.
It was opening day all over again for Webmaster Hanover who won the first race on Saturday and came back just three days later and won again, taking a new seasonal mark of 1:57.1h. The 6-year-old son of Somebeachsomewhere was driven by Drew Campbell for trainer Brian Lamb and owner Mona Dodd.
Bred by the sport’s leading nursery, Hanover Shoe Farms, Webmaster Hanover paid $8.60 to win.
Several teamsters enjoyed driving doubles on the nine-race card, including Heath Campbell and McGwire Sowers, the 21-year-old up-and-comer who has set up shop in Maine following a successful run at Monticello.
Racing from Cumberland continues Wednesday (May 12), first post 4:15 p.m. For more information go to our website firsttrackscumberland.com and follow us on Facebook at @FirstTracksCumberland.
CUMBERLAND, Maine – Saturday’s opening day at Cumberland enjoyed a large crowd and widespread support from on-track punters, as well as simulcast outlets, for the nine-race card.
The first extended pari-mutuel meeting to open in over twenty years that was not owned by a casino enjoyed mild temperatures that brought several hundred people to the Cumberland Fairground’s apron to enjoy a full day of harness racing.
Over nine races, the swiftest of the day went to iconic driver and Maine-native Bruce Ranger who steered 12-year-old Ira Chief to victory for trainer Dennis Whittemore and owner Diane Whittemore in 1:57.2h. Six races went faster than 2:00 and only two races were won by the betting favorites.
First Tracks Investments CEO Mike Cianchette was pleased that the Maine owners, trainers and drivers supported the inaugural event.
“I am also very grateful to the team at Black Bear Racing and the fans that turned out to enjoy the races. None of this happens with any one person. It’s only a success if we all work together.”
Race Secretary Marc Reynolds was equally excited about the energy in the air and enthusiasm of the horsemen.
“The turnout for the crowd was more than anyone expected. You can feel the electricity in the air with the momentum of Maine harness racing.
Racing from Cumberland continues Tuesday and Wednesday, May 11 & 12, first post 4:15 pm. Follow us on Facebook at @FirstTracksCumberland.
CUMBERLAND, ME – The box is open for the Saturday, May 8, opening day at First Tracks Cumberland. Declarations close on Wed., May 5 at 9 a.m.
In addition, Cumberland Race Secretary Marc Reynolds has posted the condition sheets for a second round of qualifiers (Sat., May 8), to be held at 3 p.m.
MG Photography
Throughout the Spring/Summer race meet, first post for pari-mutuel harness racing will be 4:15 pm.
There will also be a double draw on Sunday, May 9 for the next two Southern Maine race dates, Tuesday, May 11 and Wednesday, May 12.
As always, the condition sheets are available on the USTA’s website:
Horsemen are reminded that they must complete and submit a racing application before entering or racing at Cumberland. The form is available at the following link:
The first qualifiers at First Tracks Cumberland on Saturday morning (May 1) advanced nearly twenty additional horses for the new era of Southern Maine harness racing.
Under sunny skies “catch-drive” announcer Mike Cushing called the action for a total of five races, to the delight of dozens of fans and spectators that lined the outside fence of the iconic Cumberland oval.
The first race of the day went to classy campaigner HOBOKEN HANOVER p,4,1:50.4f ($421,746). Owned, trained and driven by Charles Eaton III, the 14-year-old son of Cam’s Card Shark has 69 lifetime victories to his credit.
Racing Secretary Marc Reynolds was extremely happy with today’s events. “I could feel a genuine sense of excitement amongst the horsemen and staff.”
“Our track crew has done a fantastic job with the racing surface itself. Anyone that was able to tune in to watch would have been impressed with the quality and clarity of the signal. To me, this is a clear indicator of the level of commitment brought by First Tracks in providing a quality racing product.”
Fastest mile of the day went to PLUS ONE p,1:50.4f ($113,378), a 6-year-old son of Somebeachsomewhere. He was driven to a 2:01.1h solo victory by his owner Joseph Burke for trainer Robert Marston.
On the trotting side, the quickest of the day was a 3-year-old Muscle Hill filly named ME TOO BABY 2,1:58.f ($41,720). Owned and bred by long-time Maine racing icon Thomas Dillion, she tripped the teletimer in 2:05h with driver Matthew Athearn for trainer Gretchen Athearn.
Clearly a promising day for the future of Maine harness racing, First Tracks Investments LLC eagerly anticipates their opening day card, Saturday, May 8th with a 4:15 pm post time at the Cumberland Fairgrounds.
(L to R) Drivers: Mike Stevenson, John Beckwith, Nick Graffam and Wally Watson.
Qualifiers will also be held on opening day, Saturday, May 8th at 3 p.m., before the start of the pari-mutuel card.
More information about attendance for opening day will be posted on our website: https://firsttrackscumberland.com when it becomes available.
CUMBERLAND, ME — In preparation for the inaugural First Tracks meeting at Cumberland, qualifiers will be held Saturday, May 1 at 11:30 a.m.
Horseman and fans can view the qualifiers on the Race Track Network channel 9749, or select ‘Cumberland Fair’ on the HD streaming platform’s Simulcast Schedule.
Trotters in the first turn at Cumberland (Stephanie Gray photo)
The Cumberland 56-day meet gets underway on Saturday, May 8 with a 4:15 p.m. post time.
The draw for opening day is Wednesday, May 5. Horsemen must declare their entries by 9:00 a.m.
This year marks the 153rd season of live harness racing at the Cumberland Fairgrounds in Southern Maine.
CUMBERLAND, ME – When presiding judge Charles Malia first started racing horses there were 17 racetracks in New England.
“I got my start with the Thoroughbreds as a hot walker, then a groom and exercise rider,” noted the retired school teacher. “In those days there was a lot of opportunity for young people to get into the sport.”
When Scarborough closed for the runners around 1969 he raced for another decade at Suffolk and Rockingham.
Malia said, “I took on project horses. When others were having difficulty getting one to run, I would buy them and get them turned around.”
HARNESS RACING, c1887.
‘A good race, well won.’ Lithograph by Currier & Ives, c1887.
By the mid-1980s, much of the flat tracks had evaporated so he made the jump into harness.
“I started as a fan at Scarborough and then bought my first harness horse pretty cheap. Her name was Race Me Victoria, a Maine-bred mare who turned into an open pacer. We had a lot of fun. She won 12 races the year we bought her,” Malia recalls.
Following his retirement from scholastics in 1998, Malia started hanging around the race office at Scarborough when Paul Verrette was a patrol judge. From there he worked his way up the officiating ladder and was the Presiding Judge when Scarborough closed in 2020.
Excited about the new era, Malia stated, “Maine racing has had a definite feel of insecurity for a period of time. If things grow with the passion shown by First Tracks Cumberland, Maine horseman will have some security going forward that has been absent for a decade or more.”
Associate Judge Christine Miller echoed those sentiments. “I am looking forward to serving with First Tracks and this new venture, which will hopefully resurrect Maine harness racing.”
Miller worked at Plainridge for six years as the Testing Barn Supervisor for the state of Massachusetts. No stranger to the inner workings of the harness game, Miller jumped at the opportunity to attend the USTA’s Racing Officials Accreditation Program.
“It was an immersive and comprehensive seven day course that was held at the Meadows in Pennsylvania in 2017. Chip Hastings and T.C. Lane were excellent instructors and I left there with the confidence and the knowledge to pursue a second career as a racing official.”
Not one to let her engines idle, Miller also works for a Thoroughbred owner providing marketing services and customer relations. In addition, Miller and her husband (a third generation horse trainer) operate an Equestrian facility specializing in Hunter/Jumpers where they teach kids how to ride and train show horses.
It was at Plainridge where Christine Miller met a gregarious fellow named Frank DuBreuil.
Originally from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Frank DuBreuil knows just about everyone around New England and has ‘been around forever.’ Truth be told, Frank has been around harness racing for half a century. He has been an owner, a trainer, a driver and a racing official.
He rubbed his first horse at Foxboro in in the mid-70s, then bought one and shipped to Maine to race. After several decades of racing horses he landed the position of paddock judge at Plainridge when they reopened in 1999, and held that job through 2015.
A familiar face around New England, Frank works many of the fairs around the state of Maine as an associate judge, presiding judge and sometimes as the assistant racing secretary.
Currently, DuBreuil works the back security gate at Plainridge on Monday, Thursday and Fridays, checking horses in on race days. Soon, he will trek up I-95 to be the paddock judge at Cumberland on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
DuBreuil knows that it takes a tremendous amount of time and effort to put on a race card, but it also takes good people. Just ask Mike Timmons, the former chairman of the Maine Harness Racing Commission.
“Aside from the Trainers, Drivers and Caretakers, twenty different people are responsible for facilitating and executing all the necessary steps in getting a horse race to the gate when the starter says GO!”
Having spent decades as the Director of Harness Racing at the Cumberland Fair, he has been instrumental in ensuring that the ‘show goes on.’ Currently, he is the vice president of the Maine Agricultural Association of Fairs, which oversees 26 fairs throughout the state. He served as president of the Cumberland Fair for 16 years.
When the first horses go behind the gate at First Tracks Cumberland, Timmons will start his new role at his old stomping grounds, that of a USTA accredited Associate Judge.
Once voted the Maine High School Principal of the Year, after retiring from 47 years in education, Timmons moved to a place he first visited in 1953…The Cumberland Fairgrounds, where he now calls home.
“I will have the shortest commute out of any of my colleagues, because I live right on the fairgrounds!”
Horsemen that would like to race horses at First Tracks Cumberland in May are required to complete a Racing Application prior to racing. The first Qualifiers are slated for this Saturday, May 1, with opening day the following Saturday (May 8).
Download the application from the First Tracks Cumberland website at the following link:
CUMBERLAND, ME – Throughout a harness racing career that has spanned nearly five decades, Scott Ehrlich finds himself back where it all started: behind the microphone calling the action in Southern Maine.
Tapped as the new voice of First Tracks Cumberland, the self-taught handicapper and racing enthusiast said, “Things are ‘looking up’ when I am looking down from high atop the grandstand. It’s where I have always loved to be.”
Somewhat of a familiar tone around the state of Maine, Ehrlich has been the back-up announcer at the popular Fryeburg Fair for the last ten years.
But Ehrlich is no stranger to the announcer’s booth having been the primary race caller over the years at Cal Expo, Balmoral and Maywood.
“Much of my early success I owe to Phil Langley, who advocated for me with Billy Johnston and got me into his tracks to announce full time,” Ehrlich remembers fondly. “I grew up in Chicago so it was a great honor work at these prestigious raceways.”
He has also provided backup at tracks throughout the Northeast and Midwest.
It was at Quad City Downs where he got his first big break, calling those races from the late 80s to the mid-90s.
The knowledgeable and affable Ehrlich will also provide live pre-race analysis as well as racing recap publicity for this new era in Maine harness competition.
While Scott is looking forward to his role as the on-air handicapper, he exclaims that he is no ‘average Joe,’ “I like to provide insight that you won’t see in the program…trip notes, time adjustments, etc.”
“From me, you won’t see the generic stuff. Not only will you get my picks, but you get why.”
Ehrlich calls upon his wide range of experiences when working in the industry. Not only are his tip-sheets sought after, but in some instances he has outfitted the horses that he picks!
“I realized that a niche needed to be filled so I started and now am proud to be in my fifth year as owner/operator of Expo Tack shop, serving horsemen and women with horse equipment on the backstretch of Cal Expo,” stated Ehrlich.
In addition, he also owns a few horses. Scott says that, “Since I watch/called what seems like a million races, you get to know what each horse likes/dislikes. Additionally, you become well aware of the trainers and their abilities, not to mention the drivers, as well as little things like current race-bikes, to not so current.”
“And when a horse I see might be racing for a low percentage trainer, and/or driver, and perhaps on a smaller track that doesn’t fit their style, that’s when I’ll buy or claim a horse, who almost assuredly is a closer. You’ll never see me acquire a horse from a top stable that uses a high percentage driver. What advantage is that? I’ve always tried to buy them fairly cheap, and turn them into something good. I’m lucky that it has happened a few times.”
So what else does a guy do that wears several hats in an industry that is spread out from coast-to-coast?
“Time with family of course,” Ehrlich adds. “When I am not working I enjoy spending time with my wife Lisa of 25 years, my three children and two grandchildren.”
To watch one of Scott Ehrlich’s favorite race calls, the 2004 Dan Patch from Balmoral Park, go to:
