This Sunday, harness racing officials at the Windsor Fair hope to continue where they left off last year with impressive daily handle figures.

The fair is hosting Maine Sire Stakes races and the final leg of the Dirigo Series, which should help boost the handle and attendance, according to the fair’s director of racing, Bill McFarland.

Last year, the track did a total handle of $969,338, according to McFarland, with an average of $107,704 per race date. The state’s horse supply, which can sometimes hinder a fair’s racing card if small, seems up this year, he said.

“The horse supply this summer has been a little better than last year. Some people have picked up horses with anticipation of the slots and the increase in purses,” said McFarland.

The fair will feature six Maine Sire Stakes races, which McFarland thinks will help boost the handle. The track will feature racing from the 3-year-old colt trotters, 3-year-old filly trotters, 2-year-old colt trotters, 2-year-old filly trotters, 2-year-old filly pacers, and 2-year-old colt pacers divisions.

Last year, the fair hosted its first Windsor Invitational, which had a $6,000 purse. This year the track received the rights to host the final leg of the Dirigo Series, so it will forgo the Invitational.

The Dirigo Series final leg will feature a purse of $20,000 and will be run Sept. 5. McFarland expects the race to draw a large crowd and help produce a large handle for the day.

Racing begins Sunday with a post time of 1 p.m.

Big finish at Union Fair

The Union Fair wraps up today and Saturday with a harness racing schedule that promises full fields and two races featuring large purses and some of the fastest horses in the state.

Fair officials have been pleased with attendance and the quality of horses at the track, although the handle has been down a bit from last year.

“We have eight full cards for Friday and nine full cards for Saturday, so we’ve got some great racing,” said the fair’s superintendent of racing, Barry W. Norris.

This afternoon, the track will feature the Harold C. Ralph Trot Invitational with a purse of $3,000, nearly $2,000 more than the track’s average purse. This annual race will include some of the faster horses in the state and in the past has produced some of the track’s fastest times, according to Norris.

Saturday will feature another special race, the third leg of the Dirigo Series, which will post a purse of $5,000.

Norris expects these races to attract more attendance and help boost the track’s handle. While the handle has been down so far, Norris hopes to see this change this weekend.

“The handle has been down a little and by the end of the week we hope it’s up to where it should be. … We have had some short fields, so that does affect [the handle],” said Norris.

With heavy rain last Saturday, the day before the track’s first day of races, track conditions were questionable but did not become a factor.

“The problem we had at the beginning of the week was we had 31/2 inches of rain here on Saturday, but the track’s maintenance [people] have done a great job here and we’ve even had a 1:59.3 mile,” said Norris.

Three track records were broken this week, according to Norris.

Special Move broke the record for 2-year-old filly trotters with a time of 2:11.3, Baton broke the record for 2-year-old filly pacers with a time of 2:01.1, and Another Judge broke the record for 2-year-old colt trotters (2:06.1), according to www.meharness.com. All three records were set during Maine Sire Stakes races.

Racing begins at 3 p.m. today and 2 p.m. Saturday.