Hamburg, NY – The garden spot was the place to be in Buffalo Raceway’s co-featured events on Saturday afternoon (May 2) as both winners were ‘pocket rockets’ in scoring their victories.
Marvellous Mac A ($3.38) was simply ‘marvellous’ on the stretch drive as he beat Lanjo Lee by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:55.4 in taking the $15,500 Open Pace.
Big Baller Beane ($7.98) used the ‘lightning lane’ to rally past the pace-setting El Toro Loco by three-quarter lengths in the $15,500 Open Trot by going the mile in 1:58.1 over the fast track.
In the featured pace, Marvellous Mac A (Drew Monti) contently watched from second as Lanjo Lee (Kyle Cummings) set the tempo with fractions of :27.3, :57 and 1:26.1.
Turning for home, Marvellous Mac A popped the pocket and drove on past Lanjo Lee, the winner of last week’s Open Pace. Winmebak (Brett MacDonald) was able to secure the third-place check.
Co-owned by Vogel & Wags Nags LLC, Team Rice Racing and Dr. Michael Miller, it was the second win in seven tries for the 7-year-old gelded Marvellous Mac A (Roll With Joe-Glee Bromac). Trained by Maria Rice, the victory improved the earnings for Marvellous Mac A to $22,685 on the season and to $82,017 in his career.
Big Baller Beane (Shawn McDonough) in the Open Trot sat the patient pocket journey as El Toro Loco was determined to set the splits with times of :27.4, :57.4 and 1:27.1.
It seemed like El Toro Loco (MacDonald) might have enough left in the tank down the stretch but Big Baller Beane found plenty of room in the passing lane and got up for the victory in the shadow of the wire. Valentine Express (Travis Henry) took third place honors.
Owned by Kathy Schoeffel, James Reuther and Roger Romesser, Big Baller Beane (Father Patrick-Global Desire) is a 6-year-old gelding trained by Angelo Nappo. It was the third win of the season in five tries for Big Baller Beane, now a winner of $23,125 on the campaign and $258,058 lifetime.
MacDonald finished the afternoon with five driving victories while Monti had a double. David Russo and Rice completed the day with a pair of training wins each.
Racing will continue on Wednesday afternoon (May 6) at 2:30 p.m. with a 13-race program set. There’s a $252 carryover in the Pick-5, which begins in the second race.
For more information including the latest news, upcoming promotions, entries, results and race replays, go to www.buffaloraceway.com.