Maine Racing is a Joke

[seen2much]

Maine has faded but outlasted many other places. Cal-Expo, Michigan, & Chicago racing are over or in worse shape.

[Racetime]

Cant even get enough horses to race Thursday at Fryeburg the biggest fair of the year

[Sakit]

Maine has faded but outlasted many other places. Cal-Expo, Michigan, & Chicago racing are over or in worse shape.

it's really a shame what's happened

[chief yogi]

maine has let anyone with any sort of bad past show up and race. the mom and pop stables are all gone.

[Jack R. Braden]

maine has let anyone with any sort of bad past show up and race. the mom and pop stables are all gone.

How do you define "mom and pop stables" exactly?

Because if I were asked to describe stables that could fit that description, I could come up with at least six stables off the top of my head.

[bass park]

Sowers again at fryeburg. Maine racing is so desparate that they cant race unless they let this fat cheater race. Just shut it down.

[chief yogi]

correct maine might have six small stables. 20 years ago every fairground had that many. scarboro barns had many too. most died but no ones replacing them. sowers hall harrington all are runing 2 in about every race. makes a great betting product. no wonder no one cares.

[Sakit]

Some of the beautiful little towns of Maine have now become a shit holes! It’s a poverty stricken state where welfare is thriving.

[Mbdreamer]

Some of the beautiful little towns of Maine have now become a shit holes! It’s a poverty stricken state where welfare is thriving.

Not true.  Come see for yourself!

[dougie]

Some of the beautiful little towns of Maine have now become a shit holes! It’s a poverty stricken state where welfare is thriving.

Nonsense. There are poor towns in every state. I live in southern Maine and love it here.

[Sakit]

Nonsense. There are poor towns in every state. I live in southern Maine and love it here.

I agree Southern Maine and some of the coastal areas are beautiful but there are areas like every other state that are rundown. I would say a good percentage of Maine has become rundown as opposed to other States in New England.

[dougie]

I agree Southern Maine and some of the coastal areas are beautiful but there are areas like every other state that are rundown. I would say a good percentage of Maine has become rundown as opposed to other States in New England.

The state is 90% wooded with many living deep within those woods. Very off the grid. Towns like Lewiston, Millinocket, and Augusta have always been poor cities since most of the paper mills have left. But here I southern Maine we are seeing people from NY, NJ, and Florida scooping up land to build houses. Low crime, moderate taxes (25th nationally), good schools, and clean air make it very desirable for most. The trick is.....can they make the winters? LOL!

[kantseeback]

I remember one angle at YR back in the day was to keep an eye on Scarborough shippers. At that time Scarborough was a deep track and the track variant was some seconds slower than YR.
If the horse had a decent time at Scarborough, they were sometimes a winner at YR.

[Jack R. Braden]

I remember one angle at YR back in the day was to keep an eye on Scarborough shippers. At that time Scarborough was a deep track and the track variant was some seconds slower than YR.
If the horse had a decent time at Scarborough, they were sometimes a winner at YR.

Love this historical nugget, thanks for sharing!

[dougie]

Agree that fields in Cumberland on Sunday were small, but that day's consistently small fields have been the exception.

Not sure how the crowds have been most of the week, but the crowd was good-sized and engaged on Sunday. And the handle-to-purse ratio has been good so far: +107% on Sunday, +32% on Monday, +101% on Tuesday, and +68% on Wednesday.

Harness racing in Maine certainly has room for improvement on multiple fronts, but it would be good to read more than just the nattering nabobs of negativity in this forum.

I agree! There is much to do here in Maine if we are to save this great sport. But I love the Fairs here.