Tag
Plainville, MA — Plainridge Park’s leading harness racing driver, Nick Graffam, extended his lead in the dash win title race on Thursday (Aug. 28) afternoon when he won five races on the program, including a grand slam to start off the card. Graffam won the pre-card non-betting 2-year-old $12,500 Romper Room pace with Forwhomthebelltolls (1:55.4) […]
CUMBERLAND, ME – Harness racing at the 152nd annual Cumberland Fair kicked off on Sunday (Sept. 22) with former Maine Sire Stakes harness racing champion Wolverina (Cheyenne Hollywood) bringing all the Graffam connections together once again to pay homage to one of their own. The 5-year-old left swiftly from post five to gain command of […]
Plainville, MA — Yonkers Invitational trotter Sea Can (Muscle Mass) shipped to Plainridge Park on Thursday (July 25) afternoon and took a new lifetime mark of 1:53.3 after winning the $22,500 Open Handicap harness racing trotting feature. Sea Can (Nick Graffam) got away fifth as Marquis Lafayette (Bruce Ranger) rushed to the front to lead […]
Plainville, MA — It was Ladies Day at Plainridge Park on Thursday (Sept. 21) as the harness racing feature paces for fillies and mares topped the card of 11 races. In the $25,000 Winners-Over Handicap headliner, Therewasthisgirl (So Surreal) and driver Nick Graffam got away fourth behind the headstrong Wahs Fire Bug N (Kevin Switzer […]
Plainville, MA — A pair of $15,000 conditioned paces separated by gender were contested as the marquee races at Plainridge Park on Monday (July 4) and both harness racing events produced performances worthy of fireworks over a track rated as wet-fast. In the first split, a field of fillies and mares lined up and saw […]
Bangor, Maine … Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery and so from time immemorial younger family members have strived to emulate the style and finesse of admired older kin. This scenario has played out through generations of harness racing families, where worshipful mimicking results in good natured competition, which often turns fierce […]
Plainville, MA — Sandpiper N (Somebeachsomewhere) is a 6-year-old New Zealand-bred harness racing pacer who was unraced down under. But since making his first lifetime start in the U.S. on May 16, he hasn’t missed a check and is currently on a four-race win streak after taking the $15,000 feature at Plainridge Park on Tuesday […]
Bangor, Maine … The red and gold harness racing colors of Bruce Ranger and Nick Graffam brightened an otherwise gloomy day on Sunday (6-4) as the accomplished cousins courageously cavorted over the muddy surface at Bangor Raceway. Ranger kicked off a three-win day by guiding Little Macabee (2:03, $7.00) to his third consecutive victory for […]
Plainville, MA — Under a line drive for most of the mile, Booraa N (Mach Three) scored an impressive gate to wire harness racing victory with the mile of her life in the $25,000 Winners-Over pace for fillies and mares at Plainridge Park on Tuesday afternoon (May 23). Ron Cushing pushed Booraa N off the […]
CUMBERLAND, ME – Homegrown harness racing reinsman Nick Graffam started Saturday’s (May 20) Cumberland program needing just one victory to push him over the edge to the 1,000th lifetime win threshold. That moment finally arrived in the eighth race, where a horse named Four Finger Floyd (Sportswriter) put the Maine-native into the four-figure win category. “I […]
CUMBERLAND, ME – Harness racing driver Nick Graffam won the featured $6,500 Winners Over Pace on Friday (May 19) at Cumberland with The Bird Dance N (A Rocknroll Dance), putting the local reinsman just one win away from the 1,000-lifetime win benchmark. The top pacers in Southern Maine enjoyed a full field of seven going […]
Trenton, NJ — Few people are completely content with their lot in life. They are constantly looking for higher-profile jobs, better pay, more recognition. The list goes on. Harness racing driver Nick Graffam is one of the few. At age 32, the lifelong Maine resident is perfectly content driving three New England tracks; Plainridge Park in […]
CUMBERLAND, ME – Veteran harness racing reinsman Bruce Ranger moved four steps closer to the 10,000-win threshold on Saturday (April 29) at Cumberland, picking up a quartet of victories including three-in-a-row on the twelve-race program. Ranger began the day with Southwind Marilyn (Art Major), steering the 10-year-old mare to a wire-to-wire score for trainer Wayne […]
CUMBERLAND, ME – Harness racing driver Nick Graffam continued his quest to reach the 1,000 win plateau on Saturday (April 22) at First Tracks Cumberland, winning the featured $7,500 Spring Fling Late Closer #2 elimination with The Bird Dance N (A Rocknroll Dance) in grand fashion. Leaving from post seven as part of a common […]
CUMBERLAND, ME – Harness racing driver Nick Graffam didn’t let a little thing like the eight-hole and odds of 49-1 get in the way of victory. The 32-year-old Maine-born reinsman went from last to first with Sixby Hanover (Pet Rock) in a thrilling stretch drive to score in the second race at Cumberland on Friday (April […]
CUMBERLAND, ME – The Polar Express makes its second stop at First Tracks Cumberland this weekend, with seven of the second harness racing elimination legs totaling $36,000 in purses sprinkled throughout the three weekend cards at the Southern Maine oval. Friday’s (Dec. 9) Polar Express Late Closing series (#1) drew two full fields for the […]
Plainville, MA — The 10-year-old Sailor Jerry (Cheyenne Hollywood) may have been the oldest horse in the race, but he schooled his younger harness racing rivals after showing a great closing kick over an off-track to capture the $25,000 pacing feature at Plainridge Park on Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 1). It took some work, but Sundown […]
Plainville, MA — With his stablemate Patrickthepiranha A not entered this week, Jimmy Connor B (Big Jim) was the one to beat in the $30,000 Open Handicap harness racing pace at Plainridge Park on Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 25) and he lived up to his 1-5 off odds billing. Sundown Kid (Matty Athearn) rushed past pylon […]
Plainville, MA — He’s been impressive since coming to Massachusetts with three wins in his last four starts. But Jimmy Connor B (Big Jim) still had more to show and evidence of that came in the $17,500 harness racing pacing feature at Plainridge Park where he won “easy as a Sunday morning” on a Tuesday […]
Bangor, Maine — Harness racing driver Nick Graffam stole the show at Bangor Raceway on Saturday (September 10), steering three winners down Victory Lane while in the process, garnering his 100th driving win of the 2022 season. Graffam, who splits his time sulky-sitting both along the state of Maine circuit and at Plainridge Racecourse, wasted […]
Bangor, Maine – Call it a grand slam, a four-bagger, or four-of-a-kind. Whatever the nomenclature, it generally represents a winning hand, and that’s exactly what harness racing driver Nick Graffam held on Sunday (July 31) at Bangor Raceway. With six drives listed on the matinee card, Graffam earned top honors with four of his charges […]
Bangor, Maine … Powerful harness racing performances were the hallmarks of the day at Bangor Raceway on Wednesday (July 6) as the two-year-old pacing divisions of the Maine Sire Stakes program made their seasonal debut, headlining a stellar 13-race program on a sunny yet blustery midsummer afternoon. Driver Nick Graffam, who with trainer Karl Butterfield […]
CUMBERLAND, ME – When Sixby Hanover (Pet Rock) first stepped foot on the Cumberland harness racing track on May 7, several of his owners was standing on the outside fence at the iconic Southern Maine Fairgrounds. Another co-owner was at Churchill Downs, cheering for one of his other horses, Mo Donegal, in the Kentucky Derby. While neither […]
Plainville, MA — Saratoga Raceway shipper Salt Life made his second start at Plainridge Park a winning one on Tuesday afternoon (April 19) after capturing the $20,000 featured harness racing pace for 5-year-olds and under in commanding fashion. Salt Life (Nick Graffam) took full advantage of some class relief and went right to the front […]
