Shriners trot over to Bangor Raceway for parade, races Festivities abound Sunday at Bass Park

Sunday is Shrine Day at Bass Park and it begins at 12:45 p.m. with a gigantic Anah Temple Shrine parade. Several other special events are featured on Bangor’s 12-dash racing program following the Shrine parade, including the Shrine Trot, two divisions of the Billings Classic Amateur Driving Championship Series and a $12,000 leg of The Pine Tree Pacing Series.

With only four racing days remaining next week to complete Bangor Raceway’s 30-day light harness racing extended meet for this year, track management is presenting one of its best family entertainment packages along with a top Sunday afternoon racing program. In addition to the special feature races, the Maine Association of Agricultural Fairs will hold drawings for free fair passes, T-shirts and caps.

The afternoon’s activities kick off at 12:45 p.m. when Anah Potentate Clyde Reynolds directs parade units of Anah Temple Shrine around historic Bass Park. There will be marching bands with mini-bikes, Indy Cars, 4-by-4’s and go-carts speeding and spinning around the track and maneuvering over ramps. Also, bagpipers, horse patrols, clowns and several marching units will parade the half-mile distance at a much slower pace than their motorized counterparts. Following the parade, the family day activities for Shriners moves behind the auditorium for a barbecue be served, courtesy of the Maine Harness Racing Promotion Board.

Shriners will also be guests of the track for the $3,500 Anah Temple Shrine Trot. Six trotters have been assembled for the annual trot race. Drawing the pole position is Pine Magic, a 5-year-old Giant Victory horse, owned by Lew Hayden of Poteet, Texas. Pine Magic drew the same position for this year’s trot race as he did in last year’s Anah Shrine Trot. Sitting second is Don’t Chute, a 4-year-old Jelly Apple gelding owned by C. Paul Mullen of Easton and driven by Steve Mahar. With a lifetime mark of 2:03.4, set last week at Bangor, Mullen’s entry on Sunday seems to have little chance of breaking the Bangor track trotting record of 2:00, set in 1997 by another Mullen-owned trotter, West Ridge Gossip.

The remainder of the trotting field, including positions, drivers, owners, hometowns and lifetime best times are: John Lee Hooker, Chris Long, John L. Brophy, Castine, 1:55.2; Collier St. John, John Davidson, Lorraine Hayden, Starks, 1:57.3 (3/4 mile); Something Spooky, Ivan Davies, Renee Robertson, Limington, 1:59 (? mile.); and Rocky Mountain N, Alan Swartz, No Worry Sonny Stables, N.Y., 1:58.2.

In Sunday’s third and fifth races, Bangor Raceway hosts two, eight-horse trotting divisions for the 20th edition of The CKG Billings Classic Amateur Driving Championship Series. The CKG Billings is named for Cornelius Kingsley Garrison Billings, one of the greatest promoters of horse racing and an “amateur” driver of Standardbreds. Initiated in 1982, the CKG Billings Series provides an opportunity for amateur drivers to compete in a series of races conducted annually at different parimutuel and fair racetracks across North America.

Dave Cochrane of Old Orchard Beach, an amateur driver and the Maine coordinator for the Billings, has corralled 14 of the 100 registered amateur drivers for the two Bangor Billings trots. The list of amateur drivers and their backgrounds are quite diverse – from an attorney, physician, retired General Motors executive, teacher, homicide detective, meter reader, and chiropractor to a Bangor auto dealer and insurance broker. (Yes, Bill Varney is in both Billings trotting divisions). He has the rail and Brother Bo in the third race of the Billings trot and Stars Photo from the fourth position in the fifth race of the Billings trot.

To qualify for a Billings amateur roster, a driver must be a member of the Delvin Miller Amateur Drivers Association (ADA) of Goshen N.Y., and be licensed by the USTA (CTA) and local and state racing commissions. All proceeds from The Billings are donated to the Harness Racing Museum in Goshen, N.Y.

The most lucrative pace on Bangor’s Sunday afternoon race card is the 10th race feature – the $12,000 Pine Tree Pacing Series, a free-for-all event sponsored by the Maine Harness Racing Promotion Board. This is the second Bangor stop for the Pine Tree Pacing Series and will be raced in one, 10-horse field. The race also pays special recognition to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

In the first Bangor outing of the series July 1, Southwind Mountain and John Hogan won the first series division in 1:56.3. Mountain and Hogan were also winners in the series last week at Scarborough Downs in 1:55.1. Mountain drew the seven hole in the 10-horse field in Bangor’s pacing contest Sunday.

The second division of the Pine Tree Series on July 1 at Bangor was won by Landmark Honor and Irving Mauran, in 1:56. The pair finished second last week in the series at Scarborough Downs to Landmark Honor while Mr. Prez had his first win in the second division of the Pine Tree series at Scarborough in 1:55.3. Landmark Honor drew the third spot on Sunday’s Pine Tree racing roster, next to the coupled entry (on the rail) of Kef Hanover and Casino Winner, owned by Varney.

PACING BITS: Bangor Raceway has added one day to its racing schedule next week with racing on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and the last day, Sunday, July 22, at 1:30 p.m.