by Dustin Ross, regional racing operations manager, Tioga/Vernon Downs

Nichols, NY — The first round of the Rags To Riches series got underway on Sunday afternoon (June 7) at Tioga Downs.

In the first division My Wicked Willie and Jason Bartlett used an off the pace tactic to win in 1:53.3. Mark Kesmodel trains the 10-year-old son of Village Connection for Joseph Davine of Clarksburg, N.J. Longshot Eagle South and Jim Taggart, Jr. got up for second, False Alarm and Ken Holliday were third, and also qualifying for next week’s semi-final round was Just Catch Ya and Tony Schadel.

Fred Brown Photography

Mcardles Charm posted the fastest winning time in the Rags To Riches as he scored in 1:52.3 for Mark Gingrich.

Scotts Rolls Royce and Jimmy Whisman took home the second division of the Rags To Riches in a new seasonal mark of 1:52.4. Whisman swung Scotts Rolls Royce four wide off the last turn and scored the ninth win of the year for the 7-year-old gelding. Also qualifying for next week’s semi-final round was Hobby Art Benka (Jason Bartlett), Derek Bromac N (Luke Plano), and Michael C Hanover (Matt Kakaley).

Mcardles Charm and Mark Gingrich took down the third division and posted the fastest time in doing so with a 1:52.3 front end victory. Bucky Angle, Jr. trains the 4-year-old son of McArdle for Charles Harvey, Jr. It was the second win in 15 seasonal starts for Mcardles Charm and increased his seasonal earnings to more than $18,000. Also qualifying from the third division to next week’s semi-final round were Boundless Honor (Kyle DiBenedetto), Classic Patrol (Billy Dobson), and Glossy N (Jim Pantaleano).

The fourth and final division posted the slowest time of the four events and was won by 20-1 longshot Camsurge and Kevin Hough. It was a wall of horses at the wire as three lengths covered the first eight finishers. The mile of 1:54.4 established the first victory of the season for Camsurge, who is trained by Ron Cushing for Cybill Beaudoin. After Life (Jim Pantaleano), Rickards Ed (Matt Kakaley), and Live Basically N (Greg Merton) all qualified for next week’s round by finishing in the top four.

Also moving on to next week’s semi-final round by posting the two fastest times for fifth place finishers was Escape Attack (Greg Merton) from the second division and Stettin Hanover (Jordan Stratton) from the third division.

Tioga Downs is hosting a special Wednesday afternoon card on June 10 with a post time of 1:30 p.m. For more information on Tioga Downs, visit www.tiogadowns.com.