by Brian J. Mazurek, for Buffalo Raceway

Hamburg, NY — Ugly Betty seemed up against it. Battling rain, sloppy track conditions and the dreaded outside post position Ugly Betty was more than up for the challenge.

Steve Roth photo

Ugly Betty turned in a seasonal best time of 1:56.2 at Buffalo Raceway on Wednesday.

Starting from the eight spot, Ugly Betty registered a ‘beauty’ with a front-running 2-1/4 length win over Eyemajet in a seasonal best time of 1:56.2 in the featured $7,900 conditioned pace for the ladies on Wednesday night (April 8) at Buffalo Raceway.

After being parked on the outside by Fiftyonefifty and unable to find a seat along the pylons, driver Jack Flanigen had no choice but to step on the gas and send Ugly Betty to the lead. It proved to be the right move.

Ugly Betty turned fractions of 28.3, 57.4 and 1:27.3 and splish-splashed her way to the wire with a final panel of 28.4 to secure the victory. Eyemajet (Shawn Gray) finished in second place with Fiftyonefifty (Kevin Cummings) taking the show spot.

Owned by Margaret Payne and Jennifer Falcone, the 7-year-old mare (Camluck-Red Road Rage) is trained by Dennis Dylo. It was her fifth win in 11 starts in 2015, increasing her bankroll to $29,679 and $203,430 lifetime.

In the co-featured $7,900 Open III trot, Flaming Yankee (Gray) found his way to the winner’s circle for the first time this year with a neck decision over Studio City (Ron Beback Jr.).

The field of eight caught a break at the start as 1-2 favorite Serendipitious broke before the gate opened up and spotted the field 11 lengths. That allowed Studio City to set the tempo with times of 31.1, 1:02 and 1:31.4.

Turning for home, Flaming Yankee (Yankee Glide-Flaming Tag), sitting third, used the lightning lane to nail Studio City by a neck in the photo.

Serendipitious, after spotting the field the huge advantage, managed to get back into the race and almost pulled off a miracle comeback. Kevin Cummings did all he could to find some racing room but the traffic got the best of them. They had to settle for third place, just a length back.

Flaming Yankee, a 5-year-old gelding, is co-owned by William and James Emmons and is trained by Gray. The victory moved his winnings to $8,353 this season and $798,779 in his career.

Racing will continue on Friday night with a 12-race program getting underway at 6:35 p.mo