SCARBOROUGH — "C'mon, Camilla Starr. C'mon, now!"

No one else took up the cry for a long shot at Scarborough Downs. The words were beaten down by the rapid clip-clop of 2-year-old trotters at the start of the Maine Standardbred Breeders Stakes race Saturday.

A few dozen horsemen and horse players left the relative warmth of the clubhouse for the brisk outdoors to stand near the rail. "Let's go, Camilla!"

Camilla Starr, a filly owned by Jim and Betsey Kelley of Millinocket, tried but wasn't gaining ground on the leaders. She finished fifth.

"You can tell when a horse looks into the eye of another," said Pat London, a horse fan. "It's like, 'You're not beating me today.' They know what this is all about."

So does Pat and her husband, Jack. They drove from Meredith, N.H., for a weekend of racing. They love horses. They love the competition. Saturday was the showcase for Maine-bred 2-year-olds. Today, the 3-year-olds strut their stuff. It's a peek at future talent in a sport that needs to hear cheers.

"When this place was full, you could hear the roar," said Pat London. Scarborough Downs was not full Saturday despite the drum-beating. Fans and bettors walked freely in and out of the two large buildings that offer lounges, seating options, and banks of televisions showing races from distant tracks.

Maybe 500 people came through the doors. Maybe the number was higher.

"It's sad because right now this is the purest the sport has been in a long time," said Pat London. "There are more sanctioning bodies and everyone's answering to them." All the sport needs, the Londons say, is new blood.

They're not talking about the genetics of breeding. Younger fans have not appeared.

Standing outside, Fran Hanley, a horse breeder from Randolph, turned and looked up at the huge windows and red-white-and-blue benches that was the grandstand. "When I was in college and came here, that was all full. You couldn't find a seat. Me and my buddies stood at those small circular tables down front."

He remembers the air filled with smoke from cigars and cigarettes, and noise of people talking racing. It was about 35 years ago. The grandstand hasn't been used for years. Hanley doesn't believe it will reopen. "You can bet your horse on the Internet. You don't need to come here."

Racinos such as Hollywood Slots in Bangor have infused harness racing with money that goes into purses and ripples through the industry. Horse farms are part of the green spaces that towns and states now want to protect. Breeders, trainers and drivers make more money while a fan base shrinks.

"It would really be a shame to lose an American sport like this," said Kathy Mofield of Bedford, Mass. Not that she believes it will happen.

She's a horse woman, owner of a successful 8-year-old named Western Hope who's on today's card. She and her late husband owned standardbreds in the past, got out, and returned to the sport. It can be very hard to break the link between man and horse. Simple things, like giving Western Hope an apple after a race, become more meaningful.

"It doesn't have crashes and flames," said Brenda Knight of Hanover, N.H., a friend of Mofield's. No bells and whistles. No instances of trotting into a nightclub with a gun hidden under its saddle.

"You have no idea of their power until you sit with the reins in your hands," said Pat London. "You'd be in awe."

That's the problem. You can imagine being Tom Brady or Dustin Pedroia or Paul Pierce. You can't imagine being Freeman Parker or Wallace Watson or Heath Campbell or any of the other drivers.

You can't imagine talking to the horse through your hands, overtaking the leader and winning. You can't imagine the cheers.

Staff Writer Steve Solloway can be contacted at 791-6412 or at: ssolloway@pressherald.com