by James Witherite, Tioga Downs racing media

Nichols, NY — On a dreary Monday evening which felt more like the last of April than the first of June, Mary Larrimore’s Believe This Bob ($2.90) staved off two late threats en route to a 1:51.2 victory in the $14,000 Open Pace at Tioga Downs.

Fred Brown photo

Believe This Bob was a narrow winner in the Open Pace on Monday.

Coming off a handy 1:50.3 win the week prior, the 7-year-old Beach Romeo gelding made an early push to the fore, clearing That’ll Be The Rei (Jim Marohn Jr.) on the first turn.

While he had to work to achieve the lead in a :26.2 initial quarter, Believe This Bob was able to rate a :55.1 half before maintaining his uncontested lead on the backstretch. Heading to the far turn, Road Untraveled (Mike Simons) began a two-wide push, progressing after Believe This Bob passed the three-quarter mark in 1:23.2 while maintaining his 1-1/2 length lead.

At the top of the stretch, Aaron Byron called upon the odds-on pacesetter for all he had, working through the final 150 yards to stave off a late bid from That’ll Be The Rei. While those two dueled, Road Untraveled dove to the pegs to sustain his rally, proving to be the equal of That’ll Be The Rei in a place dead heat — but neither able to catch Believe This Bob, who prevailed by a half-length.

Joe Skowyra trains Believe This Bob, who scored his second Open win at Tioga in as many starts.

Byron scored a driving hat trick on the 10-race card, as did Jim Marohn Jr.

Racing continues at Tioga on Friday (June 5), with post time scheduled for 6:15 p.m. (EDT). The Friday card features the third round of the United States vs. Spain amateur driving competition, which visits two other tracks in New York State before concluding in the Southern Tier.