from harness publicists around North America

Saturday’s (Jan. 19) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Dover Downs, Pompano Park and Buffalo Raceway.

Rusty’s Treasure, Bullet Of Fire prevail at Dover

Dover, DE — 14-1 Rusty’s Treasure and 17-1 Bullet Of Fire won the twin features on a longshot-filled Saturday afternoon, Jan. 19 at Dover Downs.

Fotowon

Rusty’s Tresure won one of two twin features on Saturday at Dover Downs in 1:56.2

Eddie Davis Jr. won the first of his two high-price payoffs steering Rusty’s Treasure to a 1:56.2 victory in the Delaware-distaff half of two $12,000 4&5-Year-Old paces. It was the second straight win for the 4-year-old daughter of Western Terror-Kabbalah owned by David King and E&K Stables. Non Pareil (Art Stafford Jr.) was the second finisher. Act Of Magic (Tony Morgan) took show honors.

Ursula Berndt’s Bullet Of Fire pulled an upset in the $12,000 Male 4&5-Year-Old pace. With Allan Davis in the bike, the Western Terror-Shot Of Love gelding roared past favorite Its Rock N Roll (Brad Hanners) for a 1:55 score. Mississippi Hippy (Ross Wolfenden) finished third ending a two-race win streak.

— Marv Bachrad

Pompano Park
Kommander Hawk, again catch-driven by Matt Romano, scored a repeat win in Pompano Park’s Open 1 Handicap Pace on Saturday night. The 7-year-old gelded son of Pro Bono Best bested the fast-closing Spring Again, handled by Andy Santeramo, by a length in 1:52.1 after clocking gate-to-wire panels of :27.2, :56.1 and 1:23.2. Monet C C (Bruce Ranger) edged out Special Strides (Rick Plano) for the show spot. Trained by John McNeill III, Kommander Hawk complimented last week’s wire-to-wire 1:51.4 win in similar fashion by taking the lead as the gate opened and virtually putting the field on ice with a backside brush in :27.2 to leave the competition unable to mount any serious threats in the lane. Driver Matt Romano, in a post-race interview, said that this week’s journey was a bit less worrisome. “Last week, he was a bit headstrong and I was a little concerned with that opener in :26 and a piece. This week, I was much more confident when I saw :27.2 up on the timer. Since John (trainer McNeill) thought he’d be as good this week, I thought I’d let out a notch on the backstretch and he responded like a good horse does. All I did was give him a reminder or two in deep stretch.” While the repeat victory was no surprise to the driver or trainer, it was a bit of a surprise to the betting public who let the “Hawk” go off at 12-1. (He was 5-1 when he won last week). The win was worth $6,000 to owner Ellen McNeill of Vernon Center, N.Y. For Kommander Hawk, it was 16th lifetime win and pushed his lifetime bounty to $113,007–$13,875 already this year in his first three starts.

Buffalo Raceway
Shu Fu, a 5-year-old gelding out of Matt’s Scooter won the $11,000 Open Pace in 1:56.4 for owners Tanah Merah Farms, of Springfield Illinois, here at Buffalo Raceway Saturday night (January 19). It was the first win this year for Shu Fu, who registered six wins in twenty eight starts last year. Shu Fu ($11.80) driven by reinsman Ray Fisher, Jr., who led all drivers with four wins on the night, settled in third from post two, as Dont Fool With Me (Mark Beckwith) set all the fractions in the race, :28.4, :57.2, and 1:27. As the field hit the top of the stretch, Shu Fu unleashed a :29.2 last quarter-mile, which put the winner a head in front of last week’s Open winner Miliondollardesign (Billy Dobson) at the wire. Fantasy Pan (Jack Flanigen) came in third. “This is just a really good horse”, said Fisher. “I was lucky to sneak out at the three-quarter pole, and put him (Shu Fu) in a good spot heading for home”. Trained by Ryan Swift, the $5,500 share of the winning purse put Shu Fu’s lifetime earnings at $84,488.