from harness publicists across North America

Sunday’s (May 26) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Saratoga Casino and Raceway, Tioga Downs and Raceway Park.

Bijou Theater is an upset winner in Saratoga feature

Saratoga Springs, NY — Bijou Theater (Art Major) pulled off the mild upset in the Sunday afternoon feature at Saratoga Casino and Raceway.

Dave Oxford photo

Bijou Theater was a nose winner over Bell On Wheels.

The Heidi Rohr trained 4-year-old put together a backstretch blitz heading to the three-quarters and cruised by the race’s 1-5 favorite before winning a photo with rival Bell On Wheels (Harry Landy). Bijou Theater, who was driven by Shawn Gray for her victory in the $20,000 Open for fillies and mares, was dismissed at odds of 9-1.

Bell On Wheels hit the board for the ninth consecutive start while Terror Rising (Bruce Aldrich, Jr.) came on for third in a race that saw the favored Ramona Disomma tire in the final quarter.

Bijou Theater’s first ever win in a local Open came in 1:55.3 on the chilly, breezy afternoon.

Live racing continues on Monday afternoon with a first post time of 12:45 p.m. for the Memorial Day matinee card.

— Mike Sardella

Tioga Downs
Recent News and Marcus Miller followed live cover to the winner’s circle in the $16,000 Open Pace on Sunday night at Tioga Downs. Leaving from post four in a field of seven, Recent News settled in fifth as Sheer Brilliance (Corey Braden) took the field to the opening quarter in :27. As the field passed the half-mile mark in :55.4, Mike Simons sent Western Trademark first over from third with Marcus Miller and Recent News quickly grabbing their cover. Down the backside, Sheer Brilliance and Western Trademark battled through three-quarters in 1:23.4. As the field made their way into the stretch, Simons had put away Sheer Brilliance but his biggest threat was looming off of his shoulder. Miller tipped Recent News three high and sprinted by the leader to win by a half-length in 1:52.2. The win was the fourth in 17 seasonal outings for the 5-year-old son of Riverboat King–Memorabilia for the ownership group of Curran Racing and Adam Micael and trainer Heidi Rohr. Western Trademark hung tough for second, while Sheer Brilliance was third. Corey Braden and Brandon Simpson each posted driving doubles on the night’s 10-race card.

Raceway Park
Sunday was an eventful evening at Toledo’s Raceway Park as 11 exciting races were on the program. Capricious Art paced home for his third straight win in the evening’s sixth race. The 9-year-old is owned, trained and was driven by Raceway Park’s leading driver, Mark Headworth. Capricious Art left from post six and led at every call through fractions of :27.4, :58.1, 1:26.3 and 1:56.4. He finished 1-1/4 lengths in front of his closest competitor, Elm Grove Action (Lindsay Moen). Sunday’s triumph increased Capricious Art’s (Artsplace-Windsun Caprice) lifetime wins tally to 27 and his career earnings to $98,172. He was the favorite and returned $4.60 to win. Frank Lloyd won the night’s seventh race. Exactly two weeks earlier he won and paid a whopping $115.60. This time the betting public sent him to the post at 40-1. Robert Dinning piloted the gelding for owner and trainer Stacey Vanraemdonck. The favorite finished fifth as Frank Lloyd was followed across the wire by Nowthat’saplanman (4-1), Noah’s Shark (10-1) and Illumination (30-1). Frank Lloyd returned $82.80 to win, the 9-1 exacta paid $328.60, the 9-1-2 trifecta returned $6,146 and the 9-1-2-5 10-cent superfecta paid $2,255.47. Tyler Smith was in town to drive and steered three winners on the card. Smith piloted Optique ($4.60) in race one, Morris The Feline ($15.20) in race five and Now Really ($3.80) in race eight.