Hamburg, NY – Born A Rebel was in a ‘rebellious’ mood down the stretch in Buffalo Raceway’s featured $13,800 pace on Saturday afternoon and that never say die late charge carried him to a narrow head victory over Egomania in a seasonal best 1:55.2 over the fast track.
The favored Soul Assassin finished third.
Off the gate, Vernier Hanover took early control but that was short lived as Soul Assassin (Drew Monti) wasn’t pleased with the pocket trip and recaptured the lead.
Humming through splits of :28.1, :58 and 1:26.2, Soul Assassin was ready to be encountered down the stretch by Egomania (David McNeight III) and Born A Rebel (Kyle Swift) and it turned out to be quite a battle.
With heads turned for home, Egomania was first over while Born A Rebel was three-wide in the dash for the line. It was a bang-bang finish with Born A Rebel putting a head in front late while Egomania was a heart-breaking second and soul Assassin was a tough luck third. A :28.3 late quarter proved to be the right recipe for Born A Rebel, who paid $14.60 to win.
Owned by Melvin Fink and trained by Christopher Petrelli, it was the third victory in 20 tries on the season for the 6-year-old Born A Rebel (Betterthancheddar-Outlawed Beauty). The win jacked his seasonal earnings to $43,509 and to $178,577 lifetime.
Kevin Cummings showed the way for the drivers with three victories while Monti, McNeight III and Swift all got doubles. Samuel Smith had three training scores while Bradley Jackson notched two.
Racing will resume on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. with an 11-race program set. The New York Sire Stakes will be in the spotlight once again with the 2-year-old colts and geldings trotters squaring off in the fifth race with $106,400 on the line. The program will open up with a $20,000 Excelsior Series event.
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