Cool Man Dude remains North America's winningest pacer

Fryeburg, Maine … Cool Man Dude (Western Vintage) flaunted  his season-long dominance at the Fryeburg Fair on Wednesday (October 7), swaggering to his 19th win of the 2026 harness racing season, while maintaining his razor-sharp edge and retaining bragging rights as the winningest pacer in all of North America thus far this season.

In harness to regular pilot, Aaron Hall, the eight-year-old son of Western Vintage struck his preferred front-end pose in an early show of dominance, romping over the well-manicured Fryeburg surface in a “never-in-doubt” sort of effort while extending out to an open-lengths margin at the wire timed in 1:57.1

Trained by Steven Vafiades for owners Scott and Michael McGee, Cool Man Dude returned reasonable $4.20 win tickets to his admiring backers who rewarded their darling with a hearty round of applause as he paraded triumphantly in front of the packed Fryeburg stands.

The driving win was one of four on the card for Hall who also took top honors with JJ Maximus (1:59.2, $4), who sped through a brisk :28.4 closing split to rally for the win; Deedee Didit (1:59, $11), who left the gate aggressively in a never-to-look-back effort to secure her 2nd win-in-a-row; and Alex Having Fun (1:55.3, $3), who frolicked through a zippy gate-to-wire laugher, scooting home through a devastatingly effective :57.2 back-half, to post the fastest mile of the meet thus far at Fryeburg. 

Multiple win performances were also posted by Kevin Switzer, Jr, who matched Hall with four driving wins on the Wednesday card, while Nick Graffam scored a pair of top tallies while teaming for the Michelle Lefebvre stable. 

Racing resumes on Thursday (October 8) at Fryeburg with an 11-race wagering program set to commence at 1:30 pm (EDT). Maine Sire Stakes racing will proceed the main card as twin $17,000+ splits of sophomore pacing fillies will frolic at Fryeburg at 12:30 pm, in their final elimination leg of the season in anticipation of the rich $400,000+ Maine Sire Stakes finals to be held on October 17 at Bangor Raceway.

For the complete schedule at the Fryeburg Fair, please visit www.fryeburgfair.org

The live video feed of all the harness racing action at Fryeburg Fair can be enjoyed online at www.youtube.com/@Mainefairharnessracing , programs may be found at www.trackmaster.com , while wagering for the races at Fryeburg will be available on track, at Maine’s OTB network, and online on the Hollywood Races site at www.hollywoodraces.com

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Mike Sweeney for Fryeburg Fair