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2016
8/14 - 8/20
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  Fastest Racetrack in Maine !     

Skowhegan FairSkowhegan Fair Logo

Harness racing in Skowhegan is held as part of the Skowhegan State Fair. Skowhegan is located about about forty five miles north of Augusta. Races are run over a half mile oval in front of an open grandstand. Skowhegan seems to be the premiere stop on the Maine Fair Circuit.    

It was back in 1979, the game Maine pacer Cheviot was desperately trying to become the first harness horse in Maine to break the 2:00 barrier. The stage was set in the 1979 Presidents Pace at Scarborough Downs. When the race was over, the timer stopped at 2:00.1. Driver Bill O'Donnell apologized to fans in Maine for not breaking 2:00, when he had to go wide to avoid trouble during the race. Cheviot never broke 2:00 but in 2012 he was elected to the New England Harness Hall of Fame.

Flash forward some thirty years and sub two minute miles are a common occurrence at all Maine tracks even the fairs. In 2010 in the Hight Invitational at Skowhegan, Rodeo Du Ruisseau roared home in 1:52.3 to record the fastest time ever in the State of Maine.

In 2012 the Hight Invitational was contested again and Heath Campbell came away with the driving honors, notching thirteen victories in the short meet.

On one of my trips to the Windsor Fair I took a little side up to Skowhegan, the races had ended for the year but it was another place in Maine that kept showing up in the Foxboro programs. When we got to the track my wife and I were able to park almost right on the track, so we got out of the car and walked unto the track. Soon a man started walking towards us, I thought it was someone to tell us to leave, but when he got to us he introduced himself as Clayton Dickinson, an owner, driver, trainer of a small stable. Dickinson was probably the last horseman left on the grounds, his horses were in the stables and he lived in a small trailer. He invited us in for a little chat and soon starting talking about the pride of his stable, a trotter named Lucky Landrya. To this day I remember hi comment about her "she's a good mare, but she never can catch Jimmy Peanuts". Well I never saw Lucky Landrya run, but lo and behold Jimmy Peanuts showed up at Foxboro, if qualifiers counted for wins, Jimmy Peanuts would be in the hall of fame, no one could come close to him, but put him in a betting race he was X-rated, so many you couldn't count them all. Guess Lucky Landrya needed a trip to Foxboro.