AUGUSTA – Bangor Raceway and Northern Maine Fair are off and running after getting approval from the Maine State Harness Racing Commission Wednesday to expand their racing schedules next season.

It was anything but quick and easy. Officials of both race venues sat through a nine-hour MSHRC meeting featuring sometimes contentious debate and warnings about a horse supply that may not increase enough to accommodate more races before commission members voted 5-0 in their favor.

Bangor Historic Track and Presque Isle’s Northern Maine Fair Association – the only tracks among all 11 represented at Wednesday’s meeting seeking to add races – got approval to add 10 dates to their 2007 schedules, although Presque Isle’s was conditional on securing necessary funding.

MSHRC executive director Henry Jackson cautioned commission members against adding more race dates during the license renewal/race date adjudicatory hearing.

“Looking at the 2006 season with Bangor, Scarborough and some fairs not using all the dashes [races] they were awarded, and seeing as how the horse supply was barely adequate, my opinion is the horse supply would not warrant awarding the added race dates requested,” Jackson said, citing a summary on the number of dashes and programs (race dates) for Maine tracks from 1997 through 2006.

Bangor Raceway race director Fred Nichols disagreed.

“I interpreted his numbers differently,” Nichols said. “We had a 25 percent increase last year statewide in the number of dashes and it was accommodated very well without any loss of horses per race, so to then say we can’t accommodate a five percent increase next year is a stretch.”

New Northern Maine Fair president Linwood Winslow had a more basic response:

“His [Jackson’s] answer is the same as mine. How do you know until you try?,” he said.

Commission members George McHale, Norman Trask, Ann Jordan, Stanley Kuklinski and James Tracy approved Bangor’s 54 dates in April, May, June, October and November.

Winslow is starting his tenure with a bang, but NMF officials must secure necessary financial backing and wherewithal, and provide proof of it to the commission, by May 1, 2007 to go from six to 16 race days from May through August.

“We have a lot of work to do to make this happen, but at least now we can feel confident while going to work on it,” said Winslow. “We’re just excited to get an opportunity to pursue the growth of our sport.”

Winslow is not involved in harness racing as an owner, trainer, breeder or driver, but he’s a fan nonetheless, especially now that casino revenue has pumped extensive capital into Maine’s racing industry.

“It’s a big part of the Northern Maine Fair. It always has been,” said Winslow, general manager of MPG Truck and Tractor in Presque Isle.

Winslow allayed concerns about horse supply by saying lots of Canadians are chomping at the bit to race in Presque Isle. He also said many Aroostook County residents are primed to get into racing, but only at a local venue offering racing for more than a week or two.

“I think more people would do it if they could do it part-time, but you can’t really do it that way without a local venue,” Winslow explained.

Much was dealt with Wednesday as all four of Maine’s off-track betting parlors and both of Maine’s full card (interstate and intrastate) simulcast racing tracks (Bangor Raceway and Scarborough Downs) had their yearly licenses renewed. Racing licenses for all 11 tracks were also renewed and requested dates approved, with minor adjustments in some cases.

One adjustment came in Scarborough Downs’ 126-date application. Due to removal of a hub rail system upon which a horse was critically injured earlier this year, and the track lighting connected to the rail, Scarborough is switching exclusively to daytime racing in 2007.

Thus, Scarborough has made changes in its schedule. One change was adding a full race card on Labor Day, a traditionally big race day for Windsor Fair and a day Scarborough hasn’t raced on in five years.

Windsor Fair spokesman Bill McFarland voiced concerns over competition for horses, drivers and bettors from Scarborough as both raceways planned noon post times.

After much debate, commission members allowed Scarborough to amend its request and change its Labor Day post time to 3:45 p.m. with Windsor staying at noon.

“If we were changing it over several days, I think it would have a more significant impact, but I’m cautiously optimistic it will have little effect,” said Scarborough Downs operations analyst Bill Manning.