Hamburg, NY — It was only fitting that Alexa’s Sunshine ($4.48), the lone mare to reach the $30,000 finals of the April Reins Claiming Series at Buffalo Raceway, got to wear the crown as she beat the boys on Friday afternoon (May 1) with a diminishing head victory over Skyline Blue Chip in 1:57.2 over the good track.
Being claimed in all three preliminary events of the Series, Alexa’s Sunshine showed why she was a dynamic damsel and well worth the weekly tag after finishing with a pair of wins and a second in the opening rounds. She topped off the barn changes by taking the $15,000 first place prize in the finale.
With stablemate Mister Marvalous taking early control of the race, Alexa’s Sunshine (Wade Tomaszewski) was content sitting in fourth and letting her partner do the dirty work on the front end. With fractions of :28.1 and :57.3 through the opening half, Alexa’s Sunshine began her first over journey approaching the clubhouse turn the second time.
With clear sailing on the rim approaching the three-quarter pole,Alexa’s Sunshine took dead aim on Mister Marvalous who hit the beam in 1:27.3 and was bracing for the onslaught that was about to begin.
Turning for home, Alexa’s Sunshine swooped past Mister Marvalous but had to contend with Skyline Blue Chip (Braiden Rhoades) and Caviart Val (Drew Monti) who were gobbling up real estate in the home stretch. But the wire came just in the nick of time for Alexa’s Sunshine as she hit the line in 1:57.2. Skyline Blue Chip had to settle for a tough luck second place and Caviart Val finished in third.
Owned by the Lucky Label Stable LLC and trained by Taylor Fritz, it was the third victory in 15 tries for the 6-year-old Alexa’s Sunshine (Stay Hungry-Alexa’s Luck). The win improved her seasonal earnings to $35,190 and to $172,427 lifetime.
Brett MacDonald and Tomaszewski finished the afternoon with three victories each while Fritz had a training double.
Racing returns on Saturday with a special 12 noon post time for the 12-race program. The featured $15,500 Open Pace and Trot will take place in the seventh and eighth races respectively.
For more information including the latest news, upcoming promotions, entries, results and race replays, go to www.buffaloraceway.com