There’s a 50 percent chance of rain when the Walter H. Hight Invitational runs late Saturday afternoon at the Skowhegan State Fair. Even if it’s not raining at post time, showers throughout the day could lead to a wet track when five entries try to beat the state record set during the Hight Invitational last year.

Achilles Blue Chip and driver Ron Cushing set the state record for a one-mile pace, winning last year’s Hight Invitational with a time of one minute, 51.4 seconds. A field of five horses will vie for a purse of $10,000, with a $4,000 bonus for breaking the track record set by Achilles Blue Chip last year. Post time for the Hight Invitational is approximately 3:40 p.m.

The early favorite is A Sweet Ride. The only horse in the field to have a time better than the state record this year, A Sweet Ride’s top time is 1:51.1. In 26 starts this year, A Sweet Ride has eight wins and seven runnerup finishes. One of those wins came in the Paul Bunyan Invitational at Bangor Raceway on July 20, when A Sweet Ride came in at 1:52.3. As in the Bunyan Invitational, A Sweet Ride’s driver will be Kevin Switzer, Jr.

Only The Lonely, driven by Eddie Davis, Jr., finished third in the Paul Bunyan Invitational, and comes to Skowhegan with eight wins in 23 starts and a best time of 1:52.3.

On Saturday, Cushing is scheduled to drive Hail Bro. In 18 starts this year, Hail Bro has two wins and a fastest time of 1:54.0. Hail Bro finished fifth in the Paul Bunyan Invitational.

Wheelaway, driven by Heath Campbell, has seven wins in 23 starts and has the second-fastest mile in the Hight Invitational field, 1:52.0. Rounding out the field is Warrawee Nonsuch and driver David Ingraham. In 20 starts, Warrawee Nonsuch has seven wins, and a top time of 1:53.1.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM


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