by harness racing publicists across North America

Sunday’s (June 25) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Tioga Downs, The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Dresden Raceway, Saratoga Raceway and Clinton Raceway.

Shady City wins fourth straight at Tioga Downs

Nichols, NY — For the second week in a row Shady City (Larry Staulbaum) would capture the featured pace at Tioga Downs on Sunday afternoon (June 25).

Sing For Me George (Aaron Byron) took over from the start and controlled all the early fractions :27.1, 55.2, 123.1. Shady City ($4.80) for the second week in a row would find himself parked out first-over for over half a mile.

Fred Brown photo

Shady City paces to his fourth straight win on Sunday at Tioga Downs.

The 7-year-old gelding by Metropolitan took over at the top of the stretch. Rodeo Rock (Jim Meittinis) would fire late and looked poised to win late but Shady City, who is owned by Staulbaum and trained by Kim Asher, dug down deep and found something extra to earn his fourth consecutive win going away in 1:51:1. Rodeo Rock settled for second best while Golden Gun (Truman Gale) was third.

Staulbam would win again in race 10 with the big long shot Great Tune ($80.50). Mad Mad World (Jim Taggart Jr.) had a three-length lead at the top of the stretch but the big favorite would tire, setting up the late chase by Great Tune (Art Major). Owned by Brittany Ohol and trained by Michael Ohol, Great Tune would win his first career race in 1:56.3. Mad Mad World held for second. Winback Willie T (Atlee Bender) finished third.

Tioga Downs returns to live racing on Friday (June 30). There will be no racing on Saturday (July 1) because of 38 Special concert. For more information go to www.tiogadowns.com.

— by John Horne

The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono

It’s unusual to see a major equipment change made in midseason on a winner of $856,065. But perhaps that’s why Ron Burke isn’t just another trainer. Burke put trotting hobbles on the veteran Jailhouse Jesse gelding Rose Run Parker after the horse broke in two straight starts, and the equipment seemed to help straighten out the trotter as he won the $20,000 featured event at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Sunday night in 1:52.3. Matt Kakaley, guiding his third winner of the card to that point, had Rose Run Parker away from the gate quickly, getting the lead past the :28 quarter, and the horse with recent gait problems trotted like a perfect machine from there — :28.1, :28.1, :28.1, winning by 1-1/4 lengths. The “Celebrity” photo for second saw Celebrity Eventsy edge out favored Celebrity Pegasus behind the winner, who has now taken four of 12 this year and 43 of 72 career starts. The powerful team of Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC will now be interested to see what the addition of the hobbles might mean to Rose Run Parker’s current class climbing abilities.

Dresden Raceway

Lovin Feelin held off a late charge by Tiz to win the 2017 installment of The Little Green Jug at Dresden Raceway on Sunday (June 25). The 4-year-old Jailhouse gelding is owned by Randy Fulmer of Windsor and Phil Katcher of Sun City Centre, Fla., and conditioned by Fulmer. Dresden’s leading dash winner Garrett Rooney was in the sulky for the win in 2:03.3.It was also Hockey Day at Dresden Raceway as several local hockey teams were represented including a Dresden LumberKings reunion and the Dresden Jr. Kings honoring Dillon Liberty who was awarded the OHA JR C Player of The Year Award by the league this year. The LumberKings played at the Intermediate C and Sr. B Level in the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s and won three OHA Championships in 1980, 1983 and 1985. Rooney, MacQuarrie and Alex Lilley all scored two winners on the day at Dresden raceway as Rooney padded his lead at the top of the dash standings with 12 wins on the season while Tyler Borth is second with nine and Lorne House is third with seven wins. The total handle today at Dresden Raceway was $23,483.

Saratoga Raceway

Boli (Kadabra) was one of the trotting stars at the Isle of Pompano Park in Florida this season for trainer Dan Hennessey. The 5-year-old trotter returned to Saratoga earlier this month and finished second and third in his two tries in the local open trot but was a beaten favorite both times. On Sunday afternoon, Boli was once again the public’s top choice and driver Wally Hennessey wasted little time moving the talented high-stepper to the outside in the early going. The 6-5 favorite toughed it out first-over, grinding the leader into submission before drawing away late to prevail in 1:56. The victory was the seventh in 13 seasonal tries for Boli who scored 10 wins in 2016. Black Broadway (Chris Long) followed the winner’s cover and wound up winning a photo for place with Twisted Pretzel (Jim Devaux), who earned the show spot. The exacta and triple in the $17,120 open paid $22.40 and $96, respectively. The feature victory was one of two on the card for conditioner Dan Hennessey and one of three driving scores on the day for Hall of Famer Wally Hennessey. Live racing resumes on Thursday afternoon with a matinee beginning at 12:15 p.m.

Clinton Raceway

Driver Tyler Moore closed out the month of June at Clinton Raceway by winning half of the day’s race card. His first win came in the first race with Kinmundys Stryker in 1:58. He continued hot on the day with Acefortyfourmurray in the third and Itsmachademic in race seven, closing out the day with wins in both race nine and ten with Grits N Gravy and Jackstan, respectively.