There is no harness racing at Bangor Raceway tonight or any other Friday through the remainder of Bangor’s extended meet. But Friday racing is being replaced by Tuesday night racing beginning next week.

In an effort to better utilize the available racehorses at Bangor and to comply with his commercial track status, Fred Nichols, Bangor raceway manager, petitioned the Maine Harness Racing Commission to drop Friday racing and add Tuesday racing. At a special MHRC meeting on Monday, commissioners reopened the race date assignments and voted 4-0 to grant Nichols tentative approval to drop Fridays and replace them with Tuesday racing. All other Maine racing venues were notified.

Unless Bangor’s request is challenged by 5 p.m. tonight by a Maine racing facility, Tuesday night racing is scheduled to start on June 29. Next week, Bangor Raceway’s schedule calls for racing on Tuesday and Wednesday, off Thursday and Friday, and racing Saturday and Sunday.

The change by Nichols offers horsemen more racing opportunities. A horse that is declared in for Tuesday racing is also eligible for Saturday racing. The same system applies for the Wednesday-Sunday racing. Owners have an opportunity to race twice a week or not – it’s their choice. The system is not cruel or abusive treatment to the animal and serves much better than racing double-dashes each race night. It is standard procedure and accepted policy to assist in augmenting the horse supply when a shortage exists.

With the loss of tonight’s race card, Bangor Raceway must now race its remaining 26 days to maintain its “commercial meet” status and be eligible for the commercial meet stipend, an essential part of Bangor’s operating revenues. The support of horsemen is critical as Bangor has become a prep meet for the entire Maine agricultural summer fair circuit, which begins next month.

On Saturday, Bangor Raceway has nine races and two prerace (6:20 p.m.) Learn & Earn Series. The program also features the first leg of The Future Stars Series, a late-closing pacing series with a $1,200 purse. Included among the eight entries is the University of Maine horse, Venus of Milo, the only pacing mare who has been to college and who has developed quite a local following.

In selecting a daily double for Saturday, you have to review past performances and it seems that Saturdays at Bangor Raceway have been daily double days for Kim Ireland. He has won the early daily double on the last two Saturdays. In the first race on June 12, Ireland won with Francy Marvel (with a flat tire) in 2:04.4; returned in the second and won with Winfall Rambo in 2:04. In the first race on June 19, Ireland won with Th Joe, 2:02.3, and won the second with Can-Am’s Chance in 2:04.2.

What are Ireland’s chances to repeat this Saturday? His chances are slim at best, but it could be a John Davidson double. In the first race, Davidson and Fame’s Fashion have the rail. That’s it – go cash your ticket. Butch MacKenzie and Street Singing, sitting second, will finish second.

In the second, Davidson has Rodney Grady’s mare, Sand My Beam. With Davidson’s “jiggity-jag” style of hitching his bike to gain a few extra feet, he should finish first just ahead of Barney Huston’s mare, Nelvira and Dirk Duncan.

On Sunday’s 11-race program, in the $2,750 open pace feature race (10th race) last week’s 1:59.1 winner, Mark’s Fancy, is missing from the lineup. But, last week’s second-place finisher, S K Hurricane, now has the lead spot on the rail. Will he get a challenge? You bet and he will get beaten by either Gardiner Patterson’s G F Shirlton or Lloyd Peirce’s My Bills Carrie Jo, both 2:00 winners this season.

Sunday could be a big payday for Patterson. In a co-feature, an $1,800 winners-over pace, Patterson’s 8-year-old Jonquil Hanover pacer, Twin B Stormy and John Davidson, have the rail. Stormy and Davidson won last week in 2:02.3 and should be repeaters this week. Steve Mahar and Back Road Pride, who finished second to Shirlton last week, could be his biggest threat from the outside.

In the 11th race, a $1,400 trot, last week’s winner in 2:03.3, Wesley’s Image, is missing from this week’s lineup, along with Jazabelle. Last week’s third-place finisher, Francy Marvel, seeks another win from third this week, but Absolutely Fabulus makes a seasonal debut Sunday. Post times are 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

PACING BITS – Paul Verette is no longer the race secretary at Scarborough Downs. Verette, who has been the top horse classifier at the state’s largest harness track for the past six years, said this week he made a lateral move at the seaside racing facility to “get rid of some of the pressure, but I am still involved with other projects at Scarborough Downs,” Verette said. Joe Figiulo, the assistant race secretary, moves to being race secretary at Scarborough.