from harness publicists across North America

Friday’s (September 7) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Batavia Downs, Tioga Downs, Scioto Downs and Saratoga Casino and Raceway.

Sharp Lady very sharp in Batavia Downs feature

Batavia, NY — Sharp Lady was just that, a sharp lady, as she trounced the field of six by 7-3/4 lengths in the featured $7,200 Fillies and Mares Open Trot at Batavia Downs on Friday night.

Paul White photo

Sharp Lady easily defeated a field of six in Saturday’s featured Open Trot at Batavia Downs.

Leaving from the five post, Sharp Lady (Ray Fisher Jr.) easily took the lead right out the starting gate and never looked back in posting fractions of :29.0, :59.2, 1:28.1 en route to a 1:57.4 mile.

Emily Rose Hanover (Shawn Gray) finished a distant second and Cabo (Jamie Dunlap) managed third.

It was the fifth victory of the season for the 9-year-old Sharp Lady and moved her earnings to $39,637 in 2012 for owner R. Lewis Hauber of Jewett, OH. It was also Sharp Lady’s seventh finish in the money in her last eight starts. Jim Graham did the training.

The New York Sire stakes season continues on Saturday night at Batavia Downs when the glamour division, the 3-year-old colt and gelding pacers, roll into town, to compete for $129,520 to be split into two divisions. First post is 6:25 p.m.

Headlining the card is the Cane Pace winner Dynamic Youth.

He’ll be driven by Stephane Bouchard and ships to Western New York fresh off a 1:48.4 victory in $322,716 Cane Pace Final at Tioga Downs on Monday. The race is scheduled as the sixth.

One race later, the second Sire Stakes will be contested with Major Bombay leading the way in the field of six. Major Bombay has earned $163,903 this season in 12 starts. Jim Morrill Jr. will be in the sulky.

There will be three divisions of the Excelsior Series as well along with the Open trot and pace.

— Brian Mazurek

Tioga Downs
All Spirit (Jimmy Marohn Jr.) rebounded on Friday night to capture the featured $16,500 fillies and mares open pace at Tioga Downs coming off of a disappointing ninth place finish three weeks ago. Leaving from post position number one, Marohn eased All Spirit away in fourth as High Speed Life (Roman Lopez) and Runaway Tray (Fern Paquet Jr.) were having an early disagreement through fractions of 26.1. As the field headed towards the half Roman Lopez kept Runaway Tray parked out through the half-mile mark of the race in 53.4. When the field straightened up heading towards three-quarters, Marohn sent All Spirit three-wide down the backside and brushed to the front by three-quarters in 1:21.4. Around the final turn Marohn kicked out the earplugs and paced away from the field to win for the eighth time this season in 1:51.4. Forty Three (Phil Fluet) paced home late to be second, while For All We Know (Keith Kamann) finished third. All Spirit returned $3.50 for a $2 win payoff as the post time favorite.
Judy Lanpher trains the 6-year old daughter of Bettor’s Delight – Spirit Of Ivy for Larry Lanpher of Winter Park, Florida. With the win, All Spirit increased her seasonal earnings to more than $100,000.

Scioto Downs
Real Touch was last for the first half-mile and yet prevailed by a head in a wild four-horse photo finish to win the $15,000 Fillies and Mares Open at Scioto Downs on Friday. It was the eighth win in 14 starts this season for the sophomore daughter of Real Desire, who defeated older mares for the third straight week at Scioto. Trainer-driver Ray Paver owns her in partnership with Knox Services and Slaughter Racing Stable LLC. Her winning time was 1:53.1. Tu Sei Bella was fastest away from the gate but she yielded to the even-money favorite Stacked Deck and driver Dan Noble. Real Touch was last in the field of nine and almost 10 lengths behind the leader when Stacked Deck passed the half-mile marker in :55.3. That’s when Paver loosened the lines on Real Touch and she responded with a breathtaking three-wide move down the backstretch. By the time the fillies and mares turned into the homestretch, Real Touch was at the throat latch of Stacked Deck. Soon she was joined in the battle by Tu Sei Bella and Ocean Pearl. Stacked Deck wasn’t willing to surrender. The quartet swept under the wire with Real Touch in front of Tu Sei Bella by a head with Stacked Deck just a neck back in third. Ocean Pearl was fourth, a half-length behind the winner.

Saratoga Casino and Raceway
Vernon Downs invader Yankee Manny won the Friday feature at Saratoga Casino and Raceway, pulling off a mild upset in the process. Yankee Manny (Yankee Glide) had the daunting task of racing first-over on the race’s favorite Scorpion Moon (Dan Cappello Jr) who enjoyed a hassle-free first half. While it appeared that Yankee Manny had stalled, he persevered and as Scorpion Moon tired, Yankee Manny surged in the stretch to register the win in the $18,500 open trot for trainer-driver Frank Davis. Yonkers invader Son Of Nordic (Billy Dobson) shook loose late for second while longshot Nearly Uncle (Wally Hennessey) came on for third. Yankee Manny was dismissed at odds of 7-1 in the Friday feature.