Scarborough Downs and the Maine Harness Horsemen’s Association are pleased to announce that Sunday’s (11/6) Maine Harness Racing Gives Back event raised a total of $5,234.00 for three Maine charities. The Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals, the Maine Cancer Foundation, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Southern Maine will each receive a check for $1,745.

Donations came in the form of driver purse monies, T-shirt and raffle sales, and one half of the 50/50 raffle. There was also a private donation of $1,000 from horse owner, Alfred Ross of South Dartmouth, MA, to be split among the three organizations.

Trainer Bo Sowers got things started off right with a win in the first of the Amateur Drivers races with No Shoes, which benefitted the Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals, a Windham, Maine-based equine rescue organization.

Hometown darling, Charlene Cushing, won both divisions of the Mildred Williams Women’s Driving Series, which benefitted the Maine Cancer Foundation. “I feel really honored to be competing with these great women drivers,” said Cushing in the Winner’s Circle, referring to Stacey Lord, Cathy Smith, Donna Smith, Kandace Schooley, Debbie Freeman, and Jolene Andrews. All the horses in this race were donned in pink ribbons in their manes as a symbol of breast cancer awareness.

Three divisions of the Brothers Challenge races were contested, in which harness racing brothers Drew and Heath Campbell, Wally and Kenny Watson, Ron and Mike Cushing, and Ivan and Owen Davies competed for the organization Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Southern Maine. Drew Campbell was the winner in the first split with Rompaway Zane. “I looked around for Heath (with Dr Prescription, who was heavily favored to win), but he was nowhere to be found, where was he?” asked the elder Campbell who enjoyed ribbing his brother. But in the second split, it was Heath who claimed victory with Keystone Howie over his brother Drew and Emery Ho in a tight photo finish. Heath, not one to miss an opportunity to do his own ribbing said, “I guess Drew found out where I was in this race!”

Ron Cushing won the third Brothers Challenge, putting a new lifetime mark on Too Busy ToBe Bad.

Maine Harness Racing Gives Back T-shirts (in pink and sand) are still available for $10 with all monies going directly to the charities.