by harness publicists across North America

Saturday’s (July 8) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from The Meadows, Tioga Downs, Scioto Downs, Vernon Downs, Saratoga Raceway and The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Running Aces and Kawartha Downs.

Dapper Dude digs in late, captures Meadows $20,000 pace

Chris Gooden photo

Dapper Dude wins the featured pacing even at The Meadows by a nose.

Washington, PA — Dapper Dude zipped to the lead from post eight before releasing Lincolnjames, then blew by him in the lane to capture Saturday’s $20,000 Winners Over $10,000 Life/Preferred Handicap Pace at The Meadows.

That early battle for the front went in a demanding :26.2, but Dapper Dude had enough left for Dick Stillings to edge the rallying Knocking Around by a nose in 1:51.3, with Rip This Joint third. Bill Bercury trains the 8-year-old son of The Panderosa-Dress To Suggest, who boosted his lifetime bankroll to $1,115,480, for Renee Bercury.

Tony Hall, Aaron Merriman, Dave Palone and Mike Wilder each collected a pair of wins on the 12-race card.

Live racing at The Meadows resumes Monday, when the program features an $80,000 Pennsylvania Stallion Series stake for freshman filly trotters as well as a $15,000 total-pool guarantee for the Pick-4, races 4-7. First post is 1:05 p.m.

— by Evan Pattak

Tioga Downs

Prairie Fortune (Jim Meittinis) captured the featured Open Trot ($12,000) at Tioga Downs on Saturday night (July 8).Dragin The Wagon (Aaron Byron) would jump out to the early lead and cut out all the early fractions :28.1, :57.4, 1:25.4. The late-running Prairie Fortune (Arapa Victory) would find himself in fifth place at the halfway point. Owned by Laurie Poulin and trainer Mike Deters, the 5 -ear-old gelding would go first-over at the middle of the backstretch. Prairie Fortune ($3.20) would have the lead by the top of the stretch and hold off a late bid by Picture This (Charlie Norris) to win for the fifth time this season in 1:54.1. Picture This would finish second with Dragin The Wagon holding on for third. For Meittinis it would be his second win of the evening. He would win with Lily’s Swan Pond ($2.40) who finished in a dead-heat victory with Yooooukilis ($5.20) and driver Jeff Long. Uriel (Explosive Matter) and Tony Dinges took the STAC Amateur race at Tioga Downs. Owned by Enos Van Stanhope III along with Dinges who also trains, the 6-year-old gelding would win gate-to-wire in 1:58.1
Uriel ($3.40) won for the second time this season. Yankee Manny (Mario Deessureault) would finish second. Thekeptman (Fred Cohen) was third. Tioga Downs returns to live racing on Sunday (July 9) with a 13-race card beginning at 1 p.m. For more information please go to www.tiogadowns.com.

Scioto Downs

Saturday evening (July 8) Scioto Downs hosted the $25,000 Open Pace where 10 talented horses lined up behind the gate for the seventh race on the card. This tough field was no match for My Hero Ron (Tyler Smith), coming off his last start with a win in this same class on June 23. My Hero Ron was here to show that he is a strong contender after a week off. Battling through the top of the stretch, My Buddy Ninkster (Eric Tharps Jr.) took the lead while My Hero Ron was right on his tail showing no signs of stopping. He stopped the clock in 1:51.2 to take the lead over the second place finisher K Ryan Bluechip (Randy Tharps ) while My Buddy Ninkster settled for third,while fourth was Nvestment Bluechip (Brady Galliers). My Hero Ron getting his sixth win of the 2017 racing season for trainer Danny Dubeansky and owners Brian Witt and Cory A Atley.

Vernon Downs

Oh My Joepa (John MacDonald) would win the Vernon Downs featured pace ($7,500) at the Miracle Mile on Saturday (July 8). MacDonald would add that with four other wins to go to the winner’s circle five times. During the feature, Golden Gun (W. Bart Dalious), would take charge and put up the early fractions :26.1, 56.2, 125.1. Oh My Joepa (Rocknroll Hanover) would sit in the pocket going around the Oval at the Miracle Mile. It was Apollo Seelster (Andy Gardner), who would make the first move going first-over to take a slight lead. Oh My Joepa ($7.00) would make his move wearing down Apollo Seelster (second) to get the narrow win during race nine. Golden Gun would hold for third. MacDonald would take big longshot Dewey Take Credit ($71.00) to a victory in race six. He would win race seven with Dragon Fever ($15.00). In race 11 he took Three Handbags ($5.20) to victory lane. In race 13 he would charge late with Cooper Beach ($4.00) to get his fifth win. Vernon Downs returns to live racing on Thursday night (July 13) with a 9-race card starting at 6:45 p.m. For more infromation please go to www.vernondowns.com.

Saratoga Raceway

Titus Seelster (Artistic Fella) won the Open Pace for the third time in as many tries on Saturday night (July 8) at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The Jackie Greene-trained pacer rattled off back to back jacks in the Open in late May before a brief stint out of town. Frank Coppola Jr. piloted the 6-year-old gelding who in Saturday’s feature was content to sit the pocket behind rival Givenupdreaming (Billy Dobson). The race’s favorite Long Live Rock (Wally Hennessey) was flying late and powered past Givenupdreaming before Titus Seelster shook loose up the inside to win it all. The seventh victory of the season for Titus Seelster came in a career best-matching 1:51.1. Long Live Rock was the runner up while Givenupdreaming held on for third in the $13,000 Open. It was the third win in the local Open Pace for Titus Seelster this year and it was the seventh time this season that conditioner Jackie Greene secured a win in the Open Pace (three times with defending Pacer of the Year Artful Way.) Titus Seelster paid $8.10 to win on Saturday and started an exacta and triple that came back $20 and $31.80, respectively, in the six horse feature. Greene and Coppola also scored in the $12,500 Winners Over on Saturday securing an upset victory with Memory Game (Artiscape). Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon with a matinee beginning at 12:15 p.m.

The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono

Driver Jim Marohn Jr. accounted for both winners in the $20,000 features Saturday night (July 8) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, taking the pace with Dancin Yankee in 1:49.1 and the trot with Celebrity Pegasus in 1:53.3. Marohn, the fourth-leading driver at Pocono and ninth in victories overall in North America, had the 9-year-old Yankee Cruiser stallion Dancin Yankee out and brushing at the half, and the veteran came his third quarter in :26.2 to open a huge lead that stayed safe to the finish. Josh Green is the trainer of the career winner of 58 races and $1,585,225 for owner Richard Lombardo and L&J Racing LLC. In the trot, only two horses were guided by the drivers who were listed with them on the overnight sheet – the horse second from the inside and the horse second from the outside – and those drivers’ acuity was proven on the racetrack, as Marohn and Celebrity Pegasus (post position two) scored a three-quarter length victory over TSM Photo Bugger (post position eight) and driver George Napolitano Jr. The winning son of Andover Hall has now bankrolled $102,900 in 2017 and $242,760 lifetime, with Eric Ell handling his conditioning for owners William Wood, William Dittmar Jr., Stephen Iaquinta, and Minisink Farms. Tell Us More widened his lead as North American winningest horse by taking his 15th victory of the year, and seventh straight, with a 1:50 triumph to take the first race, the $18,000 claiming handicap pace. Ameer Najor was the owner of the Tell All gelding and Nick Surick was the trainer. Tell Us More was claimed, this time for $25,000. Pat Berry became the fifth different driver in as many starts to get him home first, but that streak may stop in his next race, as the horse was reacquired by the Oakes stable, who won with him three back, and they tend to use George Napolitano Jr., one of the “streak” drivers. Pennsylvania All-Stars action resumes tomorrow night with 3-year-old colts featured; both gaits will have four $30,000 divisions of the stakes throughout the card.

Running Aces

On The Saturday night (July 8) harness racing program at Running Aces, Yankee Time posted a sharp effort to win his fourteenth lifetime race in his 17th trip to the gate. Yankee Time ($15.00) is a 4-year-old pacing gelding by Yankee Cruiser, who had, until tonight raced almost exclusively at the fairs in Wisconsin, taking a mark of 2:04.1 last season in Viroqua, Wisconsin while earning just $3,150 from 12 wins in 13 starts. He made his pari-mutuel debut at the big show tonight and drew post eight in a nine-horse affair for $4,400. Driver Rick Magee took the reins for trainer Gabe Wand who had been the only driver to steer the gelding in the past two years, and Magee sent him out quickly to be second and challenging at the :28.3 quarter-mile, before clearing to the front and then surrendering the lead back to race favorite Dakota Sleek (Tim Maier). From there they sat patiently through :58.4 and 1:26.4 check-ins until angling to the outside turning for home and prevailing in a vigorous stretch battle with said favorite, and a flying late charge from longshot Intrepid Arty (Brian Detgen). Yankee Time got his nose to the wire first in 1:57.1 to shave seven full seconds off of his previous best time. He is owned by Robert Larkey. Swinging Again ($7.00) was winning again tonight in the $8,000 Minnesota-sired 3-year-old fillies event, posting a sharp first-over victory by one length in 1:54 for her third win of the season with driver James (J.D.) Yoder in the sulky for trainer Gene Miller and Owners Wolfswinkel Pacers. Steves Hot Rod ($14.40) captured the $8,000 Minnesota-sired geldings pace with a gate-to-wire effort after stealing very soft fractions on the front end ( :29.0, 1:00.2, and 1:29.0 ) Driver Rick Magee was able to put the field to sleep and had plenty of gas left in the tank to defeat the big favorite Wonder Bull (Nick Roland) in 1:57 for his second win of the season and fifth lifetime tally, he is owned by Kati Sokolowski and Trained by David Flinn. Hollyrock Heyden ($11.00) posted a very sharp lifetime best win in 1:52 for driver Steve Wiseman with a front running tally from three-wide at the quarter pole, to hang on for a nose victory in a $4,000 conditioned pacing event. The 4-year-old gelding by Western Terror is owned by Sharon Dalke and trained by Rick Lake, and now sports 10 lifetime wins. Steve Wiseman had a driving triple on tonight’s program, and also crossed an impressive career threshold when he hit the wire first in race four with Mystic Flower ($3.60). That victory, his second on the night, marked over $10,000,000 in career purse earnings for Wiseman. James (J.D.) Yoder and Rick Magee both posted doubles on the program as well. It was a night of big prices as there was only one winning post-time favorite on the nine-race program. The next card of live harness racing goes to post on Sunday night (July 9), at 6:00 p.m. CT with a carryover in the 20-cent Jackpot Pick-5 wager of $6,350.64.

Kawartha Downs

Steve Hudon and Reg Gassien held the hot hands at Kawartha Downs Saturday night (July 8) winning as they each recorded hat tricks. Hudon had back-to-back winners in races two and three as he scored with Short Reign and HP Black Shadow. The latter was an eight -ength winner in 1:55. Hudon’s third trip to victory lane was courtesy of Bittersweet Dreams who was home with three lengths to spare in 1:57.2. Gassien’s three-bagger began in the fifth race when he scored a narrow win with Magic Moss. Bet Till Dawn notched his second straight win for Gassien in the seventh and he ended the card on the right note scoring in the ninth and final race with Vegas Rich. Next week marks Kawartha Downs’ anniversary as the track marks 45 years of live harness racing. It’s also Bring A Friend night when regular patrons are encouraged to bring someone to the track who has never been before. Post time is 7 p.m.