The fact there was any harness racing at all at the Union Fair grounds this week was something short of a miracle.

Having a full slate of racing – with a few record times, no less – in this, the 106th racing season at the 139-year-old fair, is still something even director of racing Richard “Dick” Crabtree finds hard to believe.

“Given where we started from, going back to huge floods in both November and the spring [March and April], we’re lucky to have racing here at all,” said Crabtree, a former horse owner and trainer who’s now in his fourth year as racing director. “We lost the paddock, the draft horse building, the track, and the bridge.”

The bridge was one of the prime entry and exit points to the fairgrounds and track, which are virtually surrounded by the St. George River.

When Crabtree says they lost the track, he isn’t exaggerating.

“You wouldn’t have even known there was a track there,” he explained. “The standing water was at least six feet deep. The river flow caused holes 18 feet wide and 10 feet deep in places.”

Thanks largely to the efforts of Arthur Kennedy, who has been maintaining the track for 54 years, and Jake Barbour Construction of St. George, the dirt-and-clay track with a stone dust surface was completely rebuilt in time for the first day of racing last Sunday.

“We didn’t even really get on the track until mid-July,” Crabtree said.

Even though they had to build a whole new exit road in addition to the bridge, everything was finished on Aug. 17, a little less than two days before the opening day of racing.

“It was real close. We were still working on the paddock right up until a couple days before the first racing card,” Crabtree said.

Since then, it has been a full slate of racing – eight races with at least six entries per race for seven straight days. The rebuilt track hasn’t adversely affected times as at least three records have fallen.

One recent pacing mile was completed in 1:57.1. The track record is 1:57.0. On Friday, a trotter finished in 2:02.0, just off the track record of 2:01.3. Records that have fallen this week include those for 4-year-old geldings (1:57.1 by Jet Stream Playboy with Jason Bartlett driving), 2-year-old filly trotters (2:08.1 by Speedy Cranberry, driven by Shawn Gray), and 2-year-old colt pacers (2:00.1 by Pembroke Blitz, driven by Heath Campbell).

Although betting is down slightly this year, racetrack attendance is up.

“Attendance has been great,” Crabtree said. “The grandstand on opening day was chock-a-lock full and three-quarters full the other days. Today with the iffy weather, it was half full, but I’ve been really pleased.”

The total handle for opening day was a healthy $36,000. Since then, the handles have been $32,000, $26,000, $27,000, $22,000 and $21,000 for Monday through Friday, respectively, for an average daily handle of $27,333.

The numbers seem to justify Union Fair officials’ decision to take out a loan in order to repair the extensive damage.

“The fair had to borrow substantial amounts of money to replace all that stuff, but I think the gamble paid off for us,” said Crabtree. “What was great was the number of people who stepped forward to help and all the people who volunteered services and material. It’s been a gratifying experience.”

Crabtree said without the increased purse money and funding resulting from a percentage of gambling proceeds received from Hollywood Slots racino operations in Bangor, they might never have even tried to rebuild track facilities.

“Without the support of the casino money, I think the entire industry would be in serious trouble, but for us, it would have been extraordinarily difficult,” said the former racing judge and Maine State Harness Racing Commission chairman. “I personally don’t think we would have been able to continue it.”

Trotting treasure trove

Eight horses will make up the field for the $50,000 Joseph Ricci Memorial Trot race at Scarborough Downs Sunday, and Kerogen, a 4-year-old stallion from Rockingham (N.H.) Park, is the 5-2 morning line favorite.

The race is not without local favorites as Pembroke Spice, a 3-year-old filly out of Valerie Grondin stables and owned by Bill Varney of Bangor, is another contender. She’ll be driven by Heath Campbell. Another local lady is Abby C, a 6-year-old mare owned by John Brophy of Castine, trained by Shawn Nye, and driven by Joey Mosher. Snap Dancer, a 7-year-old Maine standardbred mare is raced under lease by Fred Ward of Brunswick. A fourth entry with local connections is My Foolish Dream out of Dick Bartlett’s stables. She’s owned by Scott Dillon of Anson.

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