After nine canceled race dates, a nearly month-long postponement to the start of the season, and another two-week suspension of the season after one night of racing, harness racing will return to Bangor Raceway on Wednesday night.

All the mud has been cleaned out of the drainage pipe, the top layer of the racing surface has been excavated, and Bangor Historic Track’s half-mile oval is finally drying out.

“Yes, we’re racing Wednesday,” said Jon Johnson, general manager of Penn National’s Bangor operations (Bangor Raceway, off-track betting and Hollywood Slots casino). “The work at the track is moving ahead well and the track is drying out, but we’re not at a point where we’re ready to race yet.

“We’ve got one area in the track that we’re still working on a little bit. It’s nice and hard, but still needs to dry out a little bit. There’s still a little grading work to do [Saturday], and then we want to let the horses train on it awhile.”

Soggy, soft earth made racing conditions treacherous and forced the cancellation of the first nine of Bangor’s 54 race dates and then five more after it was discovered that the track’s drainage pipe was almost completely clogged with mud.

After city crews removed all the mud and totally cleaned out the drain last week, workers removed the track’s top layer of stone dust and clay to let the earth completely dry out.

“There were significant clogs all around. It wasn’t completely clogged, but there was significant blockage in several places,” Johnson said. “We found the base surface of the track is good. We just need to continue to let it dry out and it’s almost there. There are still a couple small places where it’s still wet, but the weather is really helping us out.”

“The next part of our plan, which we started Thursday at 11 a.m., was to regrade the infield adjacent to the track, where over the years we’ve had material build up,” he continued. “We’re grading it to promote better drainage and allow us to plow snow completely off the track and not into the infield or in the first lane anymore.”

Johnson said the grading should create a “V” formation which will funnel rainwater and melting snow into the drainage system and away from the track. That work was to be completed Friday afternoon.

“After it’s dry, we’ll bring the material back onto the track and level it out,” Johnson explained. “Right now it’s real smooth, but will probably need to be graded one more time before we put the stone dust back on.

“The work that’s left really isn’t going to take us long. It’s coming along really well and we’re really pleased.”

Johnson thanked longtime harness horse trainer Dick Bartlett for his help with the track.

“He’s been taking care of the track at Windsor for 40 years and he’s been done quite a bit with the corrective actions we’re taking on this track,” Johnson said. “He’s been extremely generous and helpful to us.”

Johnson said Bangor Raceway officials will formally request makeup dates from the Maine State Harness Racing Commission for the 14 race dates lost so far this season.

“We’re planning to do that, but we haven’t worked anything up officially yet,” he said.

Banding together for Eight Belles

Scarborough Downs is featuring a special live harness racing post time of 2 p.m. Saturday in honor of the Preakness Stakes, scheduled to start around 6 p.m.

Scarborough will also be selling commemorative wristbands honoring Eight Belles, the Kentucky Derby runner-up who had to be euthanized after breaking her ankles after the race. The $5 bands made of red silicon bear the horse’s name and benefit the MidAtlantic Horse Rescue, a Maryland-based non-profit agency which specializes in thoroughbred rescue.

Ironically, Eight Belles has a Maine connection. The 3-year-old filly was named after Eight Bells, the Port Clyde summer home of late artist N.C. Wyeth. Eight Belles owner Rick Porter’s family has been longtime friends of the Wyeths.

Scarborough’s doors open at 10:30 a.m. with the Downs Club Restaurant opening at 1 p.m.

aneff@bangordailynews.net

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