What’s believed to be the first of its kind in the Maine harness racing fair circuit could be yet another significant stride toward the revitalization of Maine’s harness racing industry.

Friday’s third race at Topsham Fair was certainly the first amateur series betting race this season and likely the first for Maine harness racing.

“As far as I know it is,” said Buddy Burke of South Paris, owner of four horses and an avid racing supporter and enthusiast who helped organize the Maine Amateur Driving Club this year. “It wasn’t a huge turnout as far as the crowd, so there wasn’t a lot of betting, but the big thing is it’s finally a reality and we’ve had our first race.”

Tim Hudson of Benton becomes the answer to a trivia question as he drove Global Raider, a horse he purchased last fall, to a first-place finish among the six-horse field and the $1,000 purse payoff with a time of 2 minutes, 2.3 seconds. Frank Hiscock and Fred E. CB were second while Tom Beckwith drove Prime of Your Life and was third.

The is the realization of a longtime goal for Burke and other amateur enthusiasts who have long envisioned amateur races in which local owners/drivers/trainers who hold fair circuit or amateur driver licenses could compete on more equal footing with other fellow amateurs rather than the more experienced, better-equipped professionals who compete nearly year round.

“There was a feeling that if you had a fair circuit driver alongside seven professional or at least more experienced drivers that the fair driver gets in the way more than anything else,” said the 58-year-old Burke, who runs his own lunchtime concession truck business. “We talked about how it would be nice to get fair drivers together in one race with a chance for them to actually win one.”

The dream got closer to reality last March in Portland when Burke’s proposal to hold amateur pace races was granted by the Maine State Harness Racing Commission with the stipulation that the races would be pari-mutuels and not non-betting races.

That was just fine with Burke and fellow supporters like the 42-year-old Hudson.

“I’m really excited about it,” said Hudson, an owner of two horses who has been driving for three years and involved in harness racing for 24. “I don’t understand why they haven’t done this before, but I’m glad it’s around now.

“This might help out in getting more people and younger people involved in the sport. Hopefully it does pretty well.”

There were no complaints Friday. All six drivers enjoyed the race, fans have another race to bet on that wouldn’t exist otherwise, and tracks have added horses, drivers, and races.

“I think I’ve got a better chance against less experienced drivers than I do against the big boys,” said Hudson.

Hudson may soon be considered one of those “big boys” himself as he had quite a day Friday. He followed up his amateur win with another, this time against those “big boys” four races later to win a $900 pace race purse.

At least one amateur race has already been scheduled for next week’s Skowhegan Fair racing program (on Friday) with the possibility of another being added.

Burke’s club is not yet official in terms of U.S. Trotting Association recognition, but with 17 “members” already and more likely to join soon, he would like to make it official as soon as possible.

One of the big advantages of having official USTA affiliation is each club in the country is allowed to pick one representative to travel to Delaware, Ohio and race in the historic Little Brown Jug race.

Several current owners/drivers travel all the way to Plain Ridge, Mass., to race amateur races. Having them in Maine will keep many of them home. Also, Burke envisions 15-race season and a series point system to determine the top amateur driver each season.

Burke believes he’s just scratching the surface as far as potential membership goes. He estimates the total number of local amateur drivers to be around 60.

“I think we could really be successful with this,” he said. “It has in other places. I hoped for about 30 people early on, but I think after having this one race, they’ll be lined up to participate in the next few.”

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net