The 2016 Scarborough Downs harness racing meet opened up to rave reviews on Saturday (3/26) with a generous mix of full fields, speedy miles and blanket finishes on full display, as the enthusiastic opening day crowd roared it's approval.
The undisputed stars of the day were trainer Philip "Bo" Sowers and driver Eddie Davis, Jr. who both recorded four wins on the ten race program. The tandem serving notice right from the very first race that this combination of talent would stand as a force to be reckoned with in state of Maine harness racing this season.
Davis utilized a patient strategy to claim victory with Clubber Lang, a newcomer to the Sowers roster, sitting a stalking third in the early going of the opening race, before igniting the after burners through a powerful 28-second third quarter, to extend out to an insurmountable lead before coasting to an open-lengths margin timed in 1:56.1.
Davis also engineered the winning strategy with two other new arrivals to the Sowers' barn (Body Guard and Lady's Bag Man), before concluding his grand slam day with a victorious nail-biter as Cool Runnings, a member of his own stable, held off a hard charging Sandy Barbie Legacy (Louis Gassbarro, III) by a head at the wire.
Sowers' fourth win came in the $6000 feature race event with the 12-year-old veteran, Noble's Grand Slam (Ron Cushing), upsetting the top class contestants at 13-1 odds.
With the first of 101 scheduled race cards now in the books, the staff and horsemen at the seaside oval look forward to bringing continued fast paced action to the fans with tomorrow's (3/27) Easter Sunday card set to head to post at 1:30 PM.
Scarborough Downs proudly features live harness racing every Saturday and Sunday with post time at 1:30 pm.
For more information, visit www.ScarboroughDowns.com or our Facebook page.
By Michael Sweeney for Scarborough Downs