by Brian J. Mazurek, for Buffalo Raceway

Hamburg, NY — Jack and Maria Rice celebrated their 11thwedding anniversary on Saturday night (March 12) and their pacer, China Dream,gave them a great gift by posting a 1-3/4 length victory over Babe’s I Scoot inthe featured $10,000 Open Pace at Buffalo Raceway.

Steve Roth photo

China Dream had no issues in Buffalo Raceway Open on Saturday night.

China Dream covered the mile in a seasonal best 1:54.4 andit was the fastest clocking of the meet at Buffalo Raceway.

Getting a perfect trip from driver Jack Flanigen, ChinaDream rolled three-wide down the backstretch the final time and overtook thepace-setting Western Alumni at the top of the stretch. In the drive to thewire, it wasn’t a matter of who was going to win but just by how much.

China Dream used a throttled down last split of 27.3 andthat was more than enough to secure the win. Babe’s I Scoot (Jim Morrill Jr.)took second place while Burton Blue Chip (Lee Dahn) rode the pylons for third.

It was the third victory in six tries for China Beach in2016, increasing his bankroll to $19,900 this year and $109,493 lifetime. The5-year-old gelding (If I Can Dream-China Art) is trained by Maria Rice.

Morrill Jr. had five more wins in the sulky while Ray FisherJr. and Jack Flanigen each doubled.

The racing will resume on Wednesday night at 5 p.m. with a12-race card scheduled.