from harness publicists across North America

Saturday night’s (Sept. 10) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Tioga Downs, Yonkers Raceway, The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Vernon Downs and Kawartha Downs.

Andreios Kardia lunges past Believe This Bob in Tioga feature

Nichols, NY — Fresh off his dominant 1:49.4 win in last week’s Open, Andreios Kardia ($6.30) made the most of a pocket trip to exact revenge on Believe This Bob in Saturday evening’s $13,500 Open 1 Pace at Tioga Downs.

Fred Brown photo

Andreios Kardia was a 1:49.3 winner on Saturday in the Tioga Open.

Aaron Byron used Andreios Kardia aggressively from the race’s outset, working to push clear of Believe This Bob (Mike Simons) through a :26 first-quarter duel, only to yield control to Believe This Bob with a circuit to go.

The 5-year-old Badlands Hanover gelding found himself boxed through a :55.3 middle half, as Believe This Bob was forced to contend with the first-over JK Panache (Scott Coulter) up the far side. Andreios Kardia would find clearance off the far turn, vaulting out of the pocket as JK Panache faded and collared Believe This Bob by a half-length in a lifetime best 1:49.3. F Twenty Two (Corey Braden) saved ground throughout, passing tiring foes in upper stretch to take third.

Jeffrey Byron trains 14-time winner Andreios Kardia for owner-breeder Ina Madill.

In a $5,000 C.K.G. Billings Amateur Driving Series event, Celebrity Stimulus and owner-driver David Glasser made every yard a winning one, repelling pressure from Dr Cal (Bob Hechkoff) and outlasting a three-wide charge from M T Ur Pockets (Hannah Miller) for a 1:58 triumph. Homer Hochstetler trains the 6-year-old Cantab Hall gelding.

Two programs remain on the 2016 season at Tioga Downs. Live racing will take place on Friday (Sept. 16) and Saturday (Sept. 17) next week, with first post at 6:30 p.m. (EDT) on both nights.

— James Witherite

Yonkers
If your name began with initials, things turned out rather well during Yonkers Raceway’s Saturday night $45,000 co-features. Favored P H Supercam (Jason Bartlett, $5.60) won the blind draw Open Pace in a season’s-best 1:51, while second choice E R Ellie (Jordan Stratton, $9.80) picked off Melady’s Monet (Bartlett, six winners during the dozen-race card) to win the Open Handicap Trot (1:54.3). P H Supercam, a 9-year-old Million Dollar Cam gelding owned and trained by Jeffrey Bamond Jr., posted his fourth win (51st career) in 20 seasonal starts. E R Ellie, a 7-year-old daughter of Elian Hanover owned by Tyler Stillings and trained by Mike Forte, is now 7-for-27 this season.

Pocono
Keystone Velocity, the lowest-priced yearling from the last crop of champion sire Western Hanover, continued to raise his profit ratio further into the stratosphere by winning the $20,000 featured pace at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Saturday night. Keystone Velocity, starting from the rail in the field of seven, left swiftly despite a six-week layoff and utilized track geometry to maximum effect for driver Andrew McCarthy, as the pair hung $2.5 million winner Clear Vision out on the rim through splits of :26, :53.4 and 1:21.1, with Southwind Amazon keeping the pocket shut behind the pacesetter. Around the final turn Clear Vision fell back and Southwind Amazon took his shot in the Pocono Pike, but Keystone Velocity had more than enough to the wire, winning by a length over the potential pocket rocket in 1:48.4 for new trainer Barry Probber. Owner Lauretta Galm haltered Keystone Velocity for $3,000 when he sold at Harrisburg in November 2009, and sometimes it’s just a matter of timing as the next year Keystone Velocity’s dam Venus Killean produced 2015 older pacing mare champion and $1 million winner Venus Delight. Keystone Velocity has always shown high speed since his colt days, but a variety of situations kept him away from the track for long periods of time; this was only his 81st career start, 18 of which are now wins. And the $3,000 yearling boosted his bankroll to $474,721 for Galm, his only registered owner since his purchase as a yearling.

Vernon
Eugene Landy’s Let’s Foal Around ($17.80) earned his second win in as many starts for trainer-driver Harry Landy, pushing to the fore in the last 70 yards of Saturday evening’s $9,100 top-level Miracle Mile pacing event at Vernon Downs. The 5-year-old Admirals Galley gelding tracked a hot early pace, ceding early command to odds-on favorite Major War (Truman Gale) through a blistering :25.2 first quarter while All Stienam (John MacDonald) tracked from the pocket. Let’s Foal Around enjoyed a clear stalking journey through middle splits of :55 and 1:22.3 before edging off the pegs on approach to the top of the stretch. Let’s Foal Around made steady gains the length of the stretch under strong encouragement, sustaining his progress while carried three-wide by pocket rival All Stienam en route to a 1:50.2 score. In the end, Let’s Foal Around earned his 16th career win by a length over All Stienam, while Major War was a worn-down third. Live racing returns to the Miracle Mile on Thursday (Sept. 15) evening, with the first of nine races due off at 6:45 p.m. (EDT).

Kawartha Downs
Kawartha Downs’ leading drivers, Gord Brown and Reg Gassien, each added three wins to their totals on the second of two memorial nights at Kawartha Downs. Each of the 10 races celebrated people who have made an impact at the Fraserville track but are no longer with us. It was a night of mixed emotions for Gassien whose wins came with Wishing Well in the Billie & Ernie Brown Memorial, Lock N Reload in the Bruce Adams Memorial and Galagher Seelster in the Bill Davis Memorial. Gassien, along with his family, also paid tribute to his brother Gary who passed away 20 years ago and his father, a fixture at Kawartha Downs since the beginning, who died in October 2014. The Gary and Paul Gassien Memorial was won by Brown with Shes Deadly. Brown’s hat trick also included wins with Shopsmagicwand in the Ron Luke Memorial and Salvo in the Doreen & Eric Brock Memorial. Murray Brethour had a pair of winners with See R Chin Win in the Ruby Brown Memorial and Weatherly in the Leona and Nellie Wright Memorial. The Jerry Robinson/Judy Brown Memorial was captured by LDL Gem and Nick Boyd. It was the third straight win for the 4-year-old Badlands Hanover mare. The first memorial race of the night, which honored the brothers Bill, Eric and Roy Given, was won by Bet Till Dawn whose trainer Dave Gibson had a pair of winners on the night.