by Brian J. Mazurek, for Buffalo Raceway

Hamburg, NY — Little Joke ($4.00) showed the field in the$9,500 Open Pace for the mares at Buffalo Raceway on Wednesday night (Jan. 24)that she wasn’t going to fool around as she was all business in wiring thefield in 1:58.2 for driver Bill Davis Jr.

Steve Roth photo

Little Joke was all business in Buffalo Raceway’s Open Mare pace on Wednesday.

Scoring from the four post, Little Joke scooted right to thelead for driver Billy Davis Jr. and posted fractions of 29.0, 59.2 and 1:29.4over the fast track.

In the drive to the finish line, it was a cavalry charge butno one had the answer as Little Joke held her ground and handily posted the twolength win over Voltina (John Cummings Jr.) and Hey Kobe (Shawn McDonough).

Co-owned by the Vogel & Wags Nags Stable and Jack Rice,the 6-year-old Little Joke (Bettor’s Delight-Town Joke) is trained by Maria Rice.It was her 17th win in just 51 lifetime appearances, earning $164,475 along theway.

Quicksilvercandy A (Bad Bert-Forzett), a 14-year-old marewho tied for the most wins in the United States last year with 22, made it aperfect 3-for-3 in 2018 with a 1-1/4 victory over Escada De Vie in 1:59.0.Owned by Larry Stalbaum and trained by Kimberly Asher, it was the 66th careerwin for Quicksilvercandy A, a winner of $113,694 last year and $687,728lifetime.

Drew Monti and Shawn Gray each had driving triples on thenight while Cummings Jr. had a pair. Trainer JD Perrin sent a trip to thewinner’s circle while Jim Clouser Jr. doubled.

Racing on Friday night has been cancelled due to a lack ofentries but a 13-race program is set for Saturday evening at 6 p.m.