September 6, 2023 — by Chris Tully, for the Maine Sire Stakes (Thomas Smith photos)
BANGOR, ME – Maine’s 3-year-old pacing colts and geldings got away from the fairgrounds and invaded historic Bass Park in Bangor for two $14,000-plus divisions of the Sire Stakes. When the dust settled, it was the Tardif Taskforce that came away with the lion’s share of the hardware after sweeping both events—but not without significant effort.
The first $14,692 split witnessed a real dog fight with some aerial maneuvers that would cause even the most seasoned veteran to take pause.
As the wings folded driver Walter Case Jr. moved Facemaskrequired to the front from post three. At the :29 first quarter stable mate Luke McGook and Kevin Switzer Jr. were out and applying early pressure. Both hail from the Mark and Peggy Tardif stable.
By the :59.4 half mile marker Luke McGook, who was trying to redeem his only loss of the season last week at Windsor, had advanced to within a head of the pacesetter Facemaskrequired. Second over was Mattucci (Heath Campbell-Valerie Grondin) who was following the live cover of Luke McGook.
When the field reached the 1:29.3 third stanza Luke McGook had poked a nose in front and Mattucci was three-deep right alongside the new leader with Facemaskrequired fighting for his life on the inside, back just a head off the outside duelers.
At the head of the stretch it looked like a two-horse race with the parked aggressors gaining a half-length advantage. But Mattucci faded and Facemaskrequired kicked into another gear and fought back the challenge of stable mate Luke McGook to prevail by a neck in 1:59.3.
Twice The Ice (Andy Harrington) finished third, giving the Tardif Taskforce a sweep of the top three positions.
Owned and trained by Marc Tardif, Facemaskrequired broke his maiden in grand fashion, and gave the son of Deuce Seelster a big boost of confidence. He was bred by KDK Standardbreds.
In the second $14,917 division, which was raced on the wagering card, Walter Case Jr. drove So Rock N’ Roll to his second consecutive stakes win for trainer Marc Tardif.
Using the wire-to-wire route, the son of Western Maverick provided both his driver, Case Jr., and his trainer, Tardif, a clean sweep of the afternoon’s two stakes races. Owned by Leighton Property and bred by Lesley Leighton, it was a 1:58.1 score for the five-time seasonal winner.
So Rock N’ Roll paid $2.60 to win. Two Towns Over (Aaron Hall-Valerie Grondin) finished second; Rockaroundsam (Switzer Jr.-Tardif) was third.
After a short break, the Maine Sire Stakes returns to Bangor with the freshmen pacing fillies on Saturday (Sept. 16) before transitioning over to the Farmington Fair the following afternoon for four days of Pine Tree State harness racing. For more information about the Maine Sire Stakes, follow their Facebook page @MaineBreedersAssociation
