June 26, 2026, by Chris Tully, for First Tracks Cumberland
(Joe Shaw photo)
CUMBERLAND, ME – Two $15,000-plus divisions of the Maine Sire Stakes for 3-year-old pacing colts and geldings highlight the Saturday (June 27) card at Cumberland Raceway with the formerly unbeaten Real Horrorshow looking to avenge his only lifetime loss.
Last week’s 1-9 favorite and freshmen champion, Real Horrorshow, got caught at the wire by Rebel’s Revenge in 1:58.4 at Bangor. Matched up again in the $15,434 first division of sophomore colts, also known as the ‘glamour boys’ group, the pair square off in race seven with the Marc Tardif’s Rebel’s Revenge listed as the 9-5 co-favorite from post two with Aaron Hall. The senior Kevin Switzer co-owns and trains Real Horrorshow (9-5, post six) who gets the services of Kevin Switzer Jr. in the bike.
What happens when the gate closes is anyone’s guess, but the wagering public may be willing to give Real Horrorshow a mulligan for last week’s loss and bet him down to the heavy favorite, once again. Despite being saddled with an outside post, the son of Dude’s The Man has shown that he can get off the car in a hurry and position himself where he likes to be—on the front end.
In addition, Rebel’s Revenge may have been a little tighter, having had two additional starts under his belt prior to the opening round of the Maine Sire Stakes. Alas, it will be a long season and it will be interesting to see how these two match up in the weeks and months to follow.
Dude’s The Jet (3-1, Dave Ingraham) also hails from the Tardif Taskforce, was third against this group last time out, and rounds out the top three in the first split.
In the other $15,659 division the early morning line favorite is Daytoremember (9-5, Heath Campbell, post six). The Valerie Grondin-trained, owned and bred son of Dude’s The Man won last week’s second division and looks to repeat against a similar cast of characters.
Marc Tardif sends three into this mix, including second choice Itsjustmoney (3-1, Switzer Jr.) whose ‘off the pace’ style may suit him well from post five. Ghost Of Winter (7-2, Hall) and Nuh Uh (12-1, Andy Harrington) round out the Tardif troika.
Looking ahead to the following race date, the Maine Sire Stakes for sophomore trotters sees two $14,000-plus divisions going postward on Sunday (June 21).
This is First Tracks Cumberland’s final June weekend of Saturday-Sunday cards. During July the schedule reverts back to Friday-Saturday, with the exception of the three day run from Fri., July 24 through Sun., July 26 during the penultimate weekend of the meet. In addition, there will be no racing Friday, July 3, a federal holiday.
First post is 12:15 pm (EDT) during the extended pari-mutuel meeting, which runs through August 2.
