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General Category => Harness Racing => Topic started by: dougie on August 01, 2025, 10:09:51 AM

Title: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: dougie on August 01, 2025, 10:09:51 AM
Well, it's time for Maine Fair racing as the weather cools off (75 degrees now) and fans get ready for big crowds and $20 parking. All the regular drivers will be competing as fans jam the grandstands looking to sit in those hard wooden seats. As the smells of good eats moves through the stands, fans jump in and out between races to partake in some truly overpriced fare. Caramel apples, turkey legs, burgers and hotdogs, chili, and so much more lets fans stuff themselves as they wait for a concert when the sun begins to wane. As for the racing, it would seem the top two betting choices usually dont disappoint, so hitting a "big number" is tough. But it's fun to watch and chat with local owners and trainers who love talking up Maine racing. So it's time to start hitting those fairs. Maybe i'll see some of you "Plopsters" on the rail!
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: chief yogi on August 01, 2025, 10:43:18 AM
yes its that time again. hope for a great season of weather and hope fans do come out in full force. looks like a good card sunday with pretty full fields.
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: dougie on August 01, 2025, 11:36:12 AM
chief Yogi.....ready to rock & roll!
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: JT on August 01, 2025, 12:30:08 PM
Well, it's time for Maine Fair racing as the weather cools off (75 degrees now) and fans get ready for big crowds and $20 parking. All the regular drivers will be competing as fans jam the grandstands looking to sit in those hard wooden seats. As the smells of good eats moves through the stands, fans jump in and out between races to partake in some truly overpriced fare. Caramel apples, turkey legs, burgers and hotdogs, chili, and so much more lets fans stuff themselves as they wait for a concert when the sun begins to wane. As for the racing, it would seem the top two betting choices usually dont disappoint, so hitting a "big number" is tough. But it's fun to watch and chat with local owners and trainers who love talking up Maine racing. So it's time to start hitting those fairs. Maybe i'll see some of you "Plopsters" on the rail!
Have fun Dougie.. and cash a few tickets to cover your food expenses. Some of my best memories are riding in my Grandpa's old El Camino to the county fairs all around Ohio and watching our families horses race
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: Papillon on August 01, 2025, 12:53:05 PM
I would love to be able to wager on Topsham, Muskegon, Windsor, etc

but being in NJ-the only ADW we have is TVG, and they only allow me Cumberland and Bangor

I guess I should be grateful for that
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: Wawajones on August 01, 2025, 07:26:31 PM
Skowhegan and Windsor are my favorites.  I have not made it up to Fryberg yet.  I love the hand cut fries with malt vinegar and salt.
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: Papillon on August 01, 2025, 09:02:03 PM
Skowhegan and Windsor are my favorites.  I have not made it up to Fryberg yet.  I love the hand cut fries with malt vinegar and salt.

 tmbz1 tmbz1
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: JT on August 01, 2025, 09:43:13 PM
Skowhegan and Windsor are my favorites.  I have not made it up to Fryberg yet.  I love the hand cut fries with malt vinegar and salt.
One of my personal favorites to during jug week. Put so much vinegar in the bottom of the cup almost falls out
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: bello on August 02, 2025, 11:34:26 AM
Been to them all. Skowhegan brigs back a particular memory. I went with one of my kids who was 14 at the time. Semms like I got an allergic reaction to the balcflies at Millinocket Lake while canoing. I was sick as a dog and hallucinating. I gave my car keys to my 14 year old to drive back to the camp in Millinocket.

Favorites where the now defunct Union Fair which was as rural as it gets.

And if you have not been to the Fryeburg Fair. It is a slice of heaven
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: chief yogi on August 02, 2025, 12:59:22 PM
all the fairs are/were great in their own way. sad to see union, oxford and northern maine stop racing. in my own way northern maine was my fav. you were so far away for a week it was a vacation. the rest i end up home and while fun they are not the same as a vacation.  blooming onion and fries are my fav.   wish we could have all the many fairs back with racing. rutland vermont rochester nh. great times.
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: bello on August 02, 2025, 05:25:12 PM
all the fairs are/were great in their own way. sad to see union, oxford and northern maine stop racing. in my own way northern maine was my fav. you were so far away for a week it was a vacation. the rest i end up home and while fun they are not the same as a vacation.  blooming onion and fries are my fav.   wish we could have all the many fairs back with racing. rutland vermont rochester nh. great times.

Teah, going up to Presque Isle was always a treat. One year I went from the Norhtern Fair races in Presque Isle, crossed the border into Canada the same day One lane border crossing. It was like an old toll booth in the middle of nowhere, and caught the night racing in Woodtock Maritimes.

Was that a degenerate move?  Probably but I am proud of it.

And yeah Oxford, but no grandstands.
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: Papillon on August 02, 2025, 05:38:54 PM
all these stories sounds like tons of fun in Maine

I have been following the Maine Sire Stakes races the last decade--but I don't have access to the fairs

it would be nice to be young and healthy again--i would spend the whole month of August touring all of them
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: Locked in with pace on August 03, 2025, 11:07:12 AM
Food at the fairs is awesome, but WAY WAY overpriced. Families must save up all year to go.
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: chief yogi on August 03, 2025, 12:17:53 PM
over priced is right.  the worst is fryeburg. 10 years ago it was affordable. now the gate and parking are the highest in the state which concedering its the biggest fair i understand. but... a few years back they changed to a out of state carnival.  one year a blooming onion was 8 the new vendors it was 15. other prices followed.
 perhaps its a lot of greed that has hurt the fair circut.  the fairgrounds are where new race fans come from. hope for a great season. weather looks good this week. go topsy. then we are off to skowvegas.
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: darnoldrocks on August 03, 2025, 12:47:58 PM
Used to go to many fairs up here in Canada.
They didn't have horse racing at them all, but most had bareback pony races.
They'd run it like a quarter horse race.
Line you up at the top of the track and let us go, race ending in front of a grandstand viewing box with a guy cracking jokes about the entrants and calling the race as it happened.
Imagine, nobody worried about 10 -15 year olds, flying down the track on their shetlands and welsh ponies, people and kids hanging over and under the sparce guardrails lining the track.
And there was always that prize money, making it even sweeter if you won !!!
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: Kole Hanover on August 03, 2025, 07:34:47 PM
 Skowhegan

 Windsor

 Fryeburg

  We never went this year but have for years prior.
 Use to go with my parents, now we all go, 3 generations

 The wives love the outlet shopping & everyone loves the food/atmosphere/racing.

 Use to always take a few lesser horses to race there,  just got 2 & 3 year olds at the moment that I own with owners who wouldn't want to go & put in for a FFAer for Canada

 Gotta get back next year, Old Home Week coming up, if all goes well, should have 2 in the trials & taking another one to sell.
 Have 1 for sure that a friend & I have but may not be much. Trying to buy another to have 2 to enter.

 
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: chief yogi on August 03, 2025, 08:50:25 PM
great first day at topsham. 4pm on monday. another great card.
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: Kole Hanover on August 03, 2025, 08:53:04 PM

 Topsham is another good fair, I didn't even think of that one, have fun- wish we could be there. Can't make them all
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: dougie on August 03, 2025, 11:50:21 PM
Heading up to Topsham Fair tomorrow. About an hour north of us.
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: whiptherabbit on August 04, 2025, 08:15:53 AM
I haven’t been to the Topsham Fair in about 15 years. Do they still have the greandstand from the 1800’s? Very tight first turn!
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: mtnskipper on August 04, 2025, 10:16:39 AM
I haven’t been to the Topsham Fair in about 15 years. Do they still have the greandstand from the 1800’s? Very tight first turn!
  What they have is a hefty parking and admission price. I turned around and went to the OTB in Brunswick instead. Free admission.
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: Locked in with pace on August 04, 2025, 11:16:48 AM
greed
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: JT on August 04, 2025, 11:28:10 AM
Heading up to Topsham Fair tomorrow. About an hour north of us.
Have fun Dougie and don't eat to much.. I know easier said then done. I definitely add on a few pounds during LBJ week
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: bello on August 04, 2025, 12:04:35 PM
Have fun Dougie and don't eat to much.. I know easier said then done. I definitely add on a few pounds during LBJ week

Don't get sick on them Red hot dogs!
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: chief yogi on August 04, 2025, 12:54:24 PM
free admission today.  rest of week fair in full force.   1st turn is tricky but track in great shape.
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: chief yogi on August 04, 2025, 12:55:10 PM
brunswick otb has been closed for like a year at least.
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: dougie on August 04, 2025, 11:28:58 PM
JT.....food was pretty good. I hit a $76 exacta in the 4th. and still lost about $40 for the day. Nice drive, but the smoke from the Canadian fires with high humidity ain't much fun.
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: Muyway on August 05, 2025, 12:05:32 AM
Grate racing!
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: Mbdreamer on August 05, 2025, 01:39:16 PM
Teah, going up to Presque Isle was always a treat. One year I went from the Norhtern Fair races in Presque Isle, crossed the border into Canada the same day One lane border crossing. It was like an old toll booth in the middle of nowhere, and caught the night racing in Woodtock Maritimes.

Was that a degenerate move?  Probably but I am proud of it.

And yeah Oxford, but no grandstands.
Alas, since 2018 no more harness racing at Oxford—cancel that order for grandstands!
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: chief yogi on August 10, 2025, 12:36:56 AM
skowhegan today. bigger handles ahead. great card today. good luck to all racing and gambling.
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: Racetime on August 10, 2025, 08:30:07 AM
Where's Maines  favorite Michigan madmen ? Winter and the Jackson boys ?
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: chief yogi on August 12, 2025, 01:18:07 PM
i saw winters name on a horse that raced in ky.
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: chief yogi on August 16, 2025, 10:43:39 PM
skowhegan closed with a great day and a good but hot week of racing. windsor fair a week from today for 9 big days. ks2 put on a show today and by far the leading driver of the fair.
Title: Re: Maine Fair Racing kicking into high gear!
Post by: Locked in with pace on August 17, 2025, 06:09:18 AM
With no racing for a week, Time for horses to get a break. Some of the sire stakes horses may try Plainridge to see how they like the  5/8.
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