Unbeaten Snowonthepines crushes rivals in seasonal debut

CUMBERLAND, ME – Snowonthepines, the sensational 3-year-old Maine-bred pacing filly has continued her tour de force by crushing her harness racing opponents in her first race of the year on Saturday (June 13) at Cumberland Raceway. 

Winning all nine of her races at two, including the lucrative $85,000 final, the daughter of Dude’s The Man was last year’s undisputed Maine 2-year-old pacing filly champion.  Now, it appears that the Marc Tardif-trained sophomore distaff will be just as dangerous to her competition this year.

Regular driver Kevin Switzer Jr. drove the prohibitive 1-9 favorite from post five, in the $15,209 opening day of the Maine Sire Stakes for 3-year-old pacing fillies.

As expected, when the wings folded Snowonthepines was sent out for an early lead and hit the first panel in :29.4.  She continued to set the tempo into a 1:00.4 half and with just Ekorus (4-1, Nick Graffam) tipping to the outside through a 1:30.1 third stanza.

But it was already too late for the chasers as the filly had six lengths on the field at the head of the stretch and increased that advantage to nine when Snowonthepines tripped the timer under the wire in 1:59.

SNOWONTHEPINES REPLAY

Owned and bred by Leighton Property, the unbeaten lass paid just $2.20.

Ekorus finished second; Perfectly Lovely (Aaron Hall) who sat in the pocket throughout the entire mile, hung on for third.

Perhaps setting the stage for his ‘big filly,’ trainer Marc Tardif also won the first $15,209 division with Dudelookslikeafily in gate to wire fashion.

Driver Aaron Hall sent the daughter of Dude’s The Man right to the top and never looked back as the filly picked up her first stakes victory and a new lifetime mark of 1:59.3.

Owned by Leighton Property and Victoria Leighton, she was bred by Stephanie Gray and returned $5.20.

DUDELOOKSLIKEAFILLY REPLAY

Graceofspades (2-1, Dave Ingraham) finished second; Race Me Ireland (Andy Harrington) was third.

The Pine Tree State-bred action marks the first $15,000-plus round of the Maine Sire Stakes program, which is the start of the 18-week season of New England’s premier harness racing showcase.

Looking ahead, Wednesday’s (June 17) Bangor program hosts the 3-year-old colt pacers, followed by the 3-year-old trotters on Sunday (June 21).

For more information about the Maine Standardbred Breeders Stakes, follow them on Facebook @MaineBreedersAssociation, or go to their website:  MaineSireStakes.com

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

by Chris Tully, for First Tracks Cumberland