Dandy day for Don Richards stable

Scarborough, Maine (June 13, 2015) – Fans at Scarborough Downs would have been forgiven if they thought they had been caught in a time warp on Saturday (6/13) as a couple of kingpins from the 1980's came center stage on a perfect late spring evening to show the young fellas a thing or two about harness racing.

With both a feature class trot and pace co-headlining the strong card, Don Richards, the 82 year old stalwart whose name has been associated with many, if not most, of the biggest events ever staged in state of Maine harness racing sent two top campaigners to the post. Retired from driving for two seasons now, the perennial fan favorite and winner of over 4200 career dashes named fellow state of Maine standout Ruel Goodblood, Jr., the winner of nearly 4500 races himself, to catch drive.

And when the dust had settled, the veteran campaigners claimed victories in both top-level events.

Whata Winner, a brand new addition to the Richards roster took the pike route to score his 30th career win, stopping the tele-timer in a blistering 1:57.4. The classy Credit Winner trotter co-owned by Thomas Dillon of Anson, Maine and Terrax, Inc of Longwood, Florida added to his imposing $700K-plus career bankroll with the zippy win which clocked just 3/5th-second off the track record.

Not to be out down by his accomplished new stablemate, Destination Moon N blasted off to an early lead secured by a blistering .27 opening panel before deftly holding the field at bay in a jam packed photo finish which featured 5 horses all with in 1-3/4 lengths at the wire. Owned by Diamond Creek Racing of Wellsville, PA, the Grinfromeartoear gelding recorded one of the fastest miles ever registered at the Downs, stopping the clock in 1:53.4, and like his stablemate falling just 3/5th-second shy of equalling the existing track record.

As summer heats up and with accomplished top-level talent flocking to Maine this season, track records across the state appear in serious jeopardy indeed. And with Richards and Goodblood once again making serious noise at the height of the class ladders, the young guns would be well advised to take notice.

Live racing is proudly featured at Scarborough Downs on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 4:30 p.m. (EDT). The Sunday matinee gets underway at 1:30.

For more information, visit www.ScarboroughDowns.com or our Facebook page.

By Michael Sweeney for Scarborough Downs