Few folks achieve iconic status without accomplishment.

When it comes to the world of harness racing, at least in Maine, Ival "Bud" Cianchette, 83, has been there and done that. His contribution to the sport remains unparallelled.

Cianchette, owner and founder of the Cianbro Corporation has withdrawn from the day-to-day running of that operation, but he will never remove himself from harness racing, as witnessed last week at the Cumberland Fair. Last Saturday, the track hosted a race in his honor to pay tribute to this man's accomplishments on behalf of the industry he loves.

When one considers that the year he became an octogenarian he found himself with the most horses he ever had in one year -- 25 -- then one can almost comprehend the extent of his involvement in the sport.

"I grew up around a farm and animals," said Cianchette, "so it was quite natural that I become a horse owner." Since he owned a farm in Pittsfield near the company headquarters, and even though it had never housed horses, Cianchette changed all that in 1965, when he converted stalls in the barn to house horses. Then he installed a half-mile training track behind the barn. Chinbro Farm was born.

Not long thereafter, Cianchette saw himself appointed to the racing commission where he became chairman in 1972, a position he held for three years, until he and a group of other breeders decided in 1974 to form a state breeding program. Next weekend at Scarborough Downs, the Maine Standardbred Breeders Stakes will celebrate its 35th anniversary with the finals of this year's races.

"In 1935, the state legislature passed a law to develop a main stream of Standardbred horses," said Cianchette. "no one had ever done anything about it, so we figured it was time, since the legislation already existed, and all we had to do was take advantage of it."

With the addition of slot machines in the state, the group has derived a percentage of monies funneled to purses for the stakes program. It has grown over the years from its inception, with $68,000 in total purses to in excess of $2 million annually.

In between the time he started and today, Cianchette has worn multiple hats. When the Bangor city-owned Bass Park (that had hosted harness racing for almost 200 years) fell upon hard times, Cianchette formed a group of ten investors to keep it alive and afloat. He served as the track president, until it was sold a few years back.

Despite his national prominence (a member of the USTA board for many years), he still campaigned a stable of horses in Maine.

"When I was running Cianbro, I'd go to the farm every Sunday to jog and train and clean out my head from business," said Cianchette. "Not only did it give me an opportunity to relax away from work, but it also helped me clear my head, so that I could go back on Monday with fresh ideas."

Philosophically, he worries about the national state of the industry today because racing enjoys far less public acceptance than it did in its glory years decades ago.

"Today, the industry struggles because of the economy," said Cianchette, "but we are fortunate to have excellent slots income in this state."

When asked about the possibility of the legislature raiding the slots pool accorded to horsemen to help balance the budget, Cianchette said, "they might try to do that, but if they did they would violate the trust of the people, something they must retain if they want to win re-election."

Bud Cianchette has tried (and succeeded) to help the industry in Maine prosper because he has truly enjoyed doing that. Anyone involved in the industry statewide knows this.

Now more people do.

BITS, BOOTS, & BRIDLES: Planning Ahead dept.: For anyone looking to purchase a Maine-bred yearling, mark Monday, October 26, on your calendar; the auction takes place at Windsor . . . Home-cooking Dept.: track trotting records for youngsters fell this past week at Cumberland as the sophomore class set new standards in all categories, colts, geldings and fillies . . . Bad Boy Billy, a three year-old gelding established the standard of 2:02; Current Closer established the paradigm for colts in 2:01; the female side saw Thisbandfromboston trot in 2:01.1 . . . Puzzling Question: how come testing procedures can not keep up with those guys breaking the rules? . . . With the Sires Stakes championships taking place next week at Scarborough, it seems that the finalists have almost winnowed themselves out after almost all the race legs . . . Old-timer Dept.: remember when a driver would win 200 races in a year and earn the praise of his fellow drivers; today, the top five chauffeurs will probably escort 750 winners to the circle . . .