By Cliff White 

Staff Writer

    It’s April, and while Mainers are used to cold temperatures this time of year, most of the crowd attending Scarborough Downs’ opening day last Friday were tucked into the comforting heated confines of the grandstand.

Only a few spectators stood outdoors on the concourse lining the half-mile dirt track, having spattered conversations absorbed by the slate gray clouds above them. Then a lone standardbred trailing a sulky clips around the bend and down the back-stretch. The people go quiet. They extend their necks. Some cock their ears slightly. As if they were scientists studying the Doppler effect, they listen to the rhythmic pattering of hooves on dirt as the horse paces by.

“It’s that sound,” one spectator said to a companion. “That’s why I come to the track.”

For many in Scarborough and the surrounding area, coming to the track is a time-honored tradition, and for some, a family affair.

Auburn’s Lori Graffam, 47, owns and has trained standardbreds for racing at Scarborough Downs. She said she has been attending weekend races at Scarborough Downs “for years.”

“It’s an institution for me,” Graffam said.

She cheered on friend Todd Whitney, who was driving Baywood Barrister in the seventh race. Graffam says many who come to the races are friends or family of one or more of the drivers, owners or trainers.

“It’s really one big family here. Everybody knows everybody,” Graffam said.

Watching the races with Graffam was her daughter, Bethany Graffam, who in 2007 won a $3,000 scholarship from the Maine Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association to attend the University of Maine at Farmington. The 19-year-old Graffam held up 19-month-old McKenna Lamoreaux, daughter of Connie and Doug Lamoreaux of Topsham, who are friends of the Graffams. McKenna was one of many children at the racetrack opening day

“Really, this place is for everyone,” Connie Lamoreaux said. “Everyone can have fun here, from the 19-month-old to the 19-year-old to us parents. There’s a family atmosphere here, and an excitement to watching the races live that most people really don’t understand until they see them live.”

As the seventh race quickens to the finish, the crowd outside cheers for their chosen horses. However, except for a cheering McKenna, Graffam and company remain relatively quiet. Whitney has crossed the line in fifth, several lengths behind the main grouping of finishers.

Walking out of the cold and back into the grandstand, smoke from burnt hamburgers rolls out in billows from the kitchen. Elderly men tear up no-good betting receipts while staring at television screens of faraway races. A mother explains to her children that the horse they pick won’t win every race.

     Graffam, for her part, seems unaffected. After a minute of processing the results, her cheerful mood has returned in full. She says she’s been around too long to be upset with a low finish.

 “It’s all right,” Graffam said. “It’s just one race in a long season.”

    Scarborough Downs is open Thursday through Sunday on most weeks from April through January. Race times vary, call 883-4331 or visit www.scarboroughdowns for a complete schedule.

     Contact Cliff White by calling 282-4337 or email news@scarboroughleader.com.