Bangor Raceway regular Iver “Red” Iverson won $1,100 at the racetrack Friday night in the Bingo Pick-Five, a handicapping contest sponsored by Penobscot High Stakes Bingo.

Iverson and his son each purchased a ticket, but it was the elder Iverson who came away with a big win.

There is no admission or entry fee for the Pick-Five. A bettor must correctly select the winners of five designated races on the card to win. The contest continues on Sunday, Father’s Day, which is a great opportunity for dad to enjoy harness racing at historic Bass Park and match wits with other handicappers. Sunday also marks the halfway point of Bangor Raceway’s 30-day extended harness race meet.

The money increases $100 each race night until someone wins it or until the meet ends. Official contest rules are posted next to the information window.

Learn and Earn a success

A bunch of kudos are extended to a whole bunch of people and newspapers for a job well done. Last Wednesday, Bangor Raceway made a special effort to simulcast a series of Learn and Earn races – young horses just beginning to race. The non-betting races were listed in the race starters section of the sports pages in the daily newspapers in Bangor, Waterville, Augusta and Lewiston.

The races were simulcast to off-track betting parlors and offered to owners and race fans in central and southern Maine who couldn’t make it to Bangor Raceway. They got a chance at their local OTB to watch their young horses compete on the Bangor track. With some coordination between the tracks, OTBs and newspapers, they pulled the whole thing together and it worked. Congratulations to everyone involved.

The simulcasts of “baby races” certainly produced some great comments from both owners and racing fans. I hope other tracks that simulcast their races will take a page from the “Bangor book” and use the same judgment on Maine Sire Stakes events that are programmed as non-wagering events and raced between other live events.

Stakes races begin June 24

The Maine Standardbred Breeders Stakes begin in another week at Scarborough Downs. The 3-year-old pacing colts kick off the MSBS competition on Sunday, June 24. The 2- and 3-year-old trotters are featured at Scarborough Downs on Wednesday, June 27 with the 2- and 3-year-old pacing fillies completing the first week of stakes action on Friday, June 29.

The MSBS move to Bangor Raceway with its first event scheduled on Wednesday, July 4. The 2-year-old divisions compete for eight weeks with a final on Sunday, Sept. 9, at Scarborough Downs. The 3-year-old divisions compete for 12 weeks with a final at Scarborough on Sunday, Oct. 14.

On Thursday, the Maine Harness Racing Commission approved a base purse for each stake division of $2,400. (that’s base, plus added monies). Henry Jackson, executive director of the MHRC, said the average purse will be down approximately $500 from last year because of a 17 percent decline in parimutuel handle this year. According to racing commission figures, the number of sustaining MSBS horses are: in the 2-year-old divisions – 35 trotters; 55 pacing fillies and 65 pacing colts. In the 3-year-old divisions, there are: 41 trotters; 53 pacing fillies and 60 pacing colts.

Pine Tree series set for Bangor

The Pine Tree Pacing Series, an experimental racing venture in Maine this summer, designed to increase track attendance, will race six preliminary legs, each for a $12,000 purse, and a guaranteed purse for the final of $50,000. The first leg is scheduled at Bangor Raceway in two weeks, Sunday, July 1. The free-for-all pacing series has drawn 27 entries from almost every state along the Eastern Seaboard. And some of the potential entries carry some pretty impressive racing credentials.

A couple of the outstanding Pine Tree entries carrying really hefty credentials, include: Fearless Raider, an 8-year-old gelding by Keystone Raider, owned by Dodge A Bullet Stables of New York. Raider has raced his last three starts at The Meadowlands, pacing right at the 1:50 mark, winning two and finishing second in the third pace with lifetime earnings of $595,374 and a record win time last season of 1:49.

Also committed to The Pine Tree Series is: Dieberspace, a 5-year-old horse by Die Laughing, out of a Falcon Seelster mare, owned by Clifford Siegel of Brooklyn, N.Y. Dieberspace won by a half-length last week at The Meadowlands in 1:49.4, establishing a new lifetime mark. He has earnings of $474,433 through last week. The lucrative pacing series has attracted some of the very best pacers on the East Coast for Maine racing fans to see.

The schedule for the Pine Tree Pacing Series calls for two stops at Bangor Raceway, Sunday, July 1 and 15; two at Scarborough Downs, July 8, Aug. 4; at Skowhegan Fair on Sunday, Aug. 12; at Windsor Fair, Sunday, Sept. 2; and the $50,000 final at Scarborough Downs on Saturday, Sept. 8.

PACING BITS – Say goodbye to the single lifestyle and bachelorhood of Kim Ireland. He and Wendy Glaster are exchanging marriage vows today in Presque Isle. For the past couple of years, they have been busy building a top-notch racing stable to compete on the New England racing circuit. Congratulations to this hard-working pair. They have earned their stripes and we wish them the very best, along with Emily.