Hamburg, NY — Flag Party ($9.84) was able to celebrate on Saturday afternoon (March 14) at Buffalo Raceway by winning a three-way photo in the $15,500 Open Pace. He nipped Bettor Than Spring by a nose while the pace setting Lanjo Lee finished just a narrow head behind in 1:56.3.
Dougadougadew ($11.90) got the perfect pocket journey and easily rolled on past Crazy Ritz to notch the victory in the co-featured $15,500 Open Trot in 1:59.
Flag Party (Joseph Chindano Jr.) watched patiently as Lanjo Lee (Kyle Cummings) registered fractions of :29.4, :59.2 and 1:28 over the fast track. Flag Party was on even terms with Lanjo Lee hitting the final marker and battled it out to the wire as Bettor Than Spring threw his hat into contention late down the lane. All three had chances and it took a photo to separate them with Flag Party nudging ahead late while Bettor Than Spring (Brett MacDonald) and Lanjo Lee having to settle for disappointing second and third place finishes.
Owned by driver Chindano Jr., Jeff Savidge, Michael DeSave and Richard DiMaio, Flag Party (Stag Party-Sassafras Girl) is trained by Jennina Shaw. It was the first win of the season for Flag Party in five outings. The triumph jumped his seasonal earnings to $17,829 and to $110,981 in his career.
Dougadougadew watched contently as Crazy Ritz did the heavy work on the front end in the Open Trot, then pounced on his opportunity in the stretch to post the 1-3/4 length victory.
In the drive to the opening panel, Dougadougadew (Kyle Cummings) played some hard ball with Crazy Ritz (James McNeight Jr.) before eventually relinquishing the lead. After reaching the top, Crazy Ritz put up fractions of :29.1, :59.3 and 1:29.1. But turning for home, those splits proved to be too much as Dougadougadew easily collared Crazy Ritz and confidently strutted off to the victory. Double Class (Kevin Cummings) took the show position.
Owned by Doug and Tyra Ackley and conditioned by Tammy Cummings, the 7-year-old gelding Dougadougadew (Deweycheatumnhowe-Fashionablefilly) was victorious for the first time in three attempts in 2026. The score vaulted his seasonal winnings to $8,610 and to $182,795 lifetime.
Brett MacDonald and Kyle Cummings topped the driver’s statistics with three victories apiece with David McNeight III and Kevin Cummings getting two each. Tammy Cummings and Sheena Cohen each had a pair of training wins.
Buffalo Raceway has announced schedule changes for the rest of the 2026 meet. The track has now added live racing on Friday, March 20 and Friday, March 27 with the normal post of 2:30 p.m. still in effect. Originally, Friday afternoon racing was to begin on April 3. The final race day of the season will now be on Saturday, July 18 with Sunday, July 19 taken off the calendar.
Also, the live racing post time at Buffalo Raceway on May 2, Kentucky Derby Day, has been moved from its usual time of 2:30 p.m. to noon.
For more information including the latest news, upcoming promotions, entries, results and race replays, visit www.buffaloraceway.com.