by Brian J. Mazurek, for Buffalo Raceway

Hamburg, NY — Beechwood Wayne came flying on the outside late and shocked the field in the $10,500 Open Pace at Buffalo Raceway in 1:59 over the “good” track on Saturday night (Feb. 8).

Steve Roth photo

Beechwood Wayne (#5) gets up in time for the win in Buffalo Raceway’s Open Pace.

Sent off at 17-1, Beechwood Wayne (Ron Beback, Jr.) managed to get past Little Santamonica at the wire and score the win by a head, returning a healthy $37.80 to his faithful backers.

It was almost an incredible victory for the lone mare in the field, Little Santamonica (Aaron Byron), as she was parked the entire mile and seemed in control in mid-stretch. But it was Beechwood Wayne, who was dead last at the top of the stretch, that came charging late and pulled out the win thanks to a :28.3 late quarter. Little Santamonica finished a heartbroken second while Rockavellian (Billy Dobson) took the show spot.

The victory was the third straight in 2014 for Beechwood Wayne, who has stepped up in class the past three weeks and successfully handled each test sent his way. Owned by Tessa Roland and Mark Jakubik, the 7-year-old Beechwood Wayne has now earned $13,250 this year and $173,346 lifetime.

Racing will continue on Wednesday (Feb. 12) with a 12-race program scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. The guaranteed $5,000 Pick-4 will start in the fifth race.