Hamburg, NY – It was opening day at Buffalo Raceway on Wednesday afternoon (March 4) and the fans were greeted with sunny skies and 50 degree temperatures. But the chalk players weren’t in a pleasant mood despite the weather as longshots controlled the board to rain on their day.
Some big numbers were posted on the card as Bbc Sportsboy ($68.30) led the parade of big prices while other eye-opening numbers included Miss Rockadali ($32.52), Trente Deo ($32.10), Classic Sunny ($29.22), Pointomygrandson ($14.52) and Governor JK ($12.92). The bombs in the early events helped create a $1,076 carryover in the Pick 5 which begins in the second race on Saturday.
“There was some exciting racing out there,” Buffalo Raceway General Manager Jon Cramer said of opening day. “We hope to see them back on Saturday afternoon for the Pick 5 carryover, magnetic schedule giveaway and the ‘Lucky Exacta’ contest.”
While the early going had some big paydays, there wasn’t much chaos in the $13,500 pace for the ladies as Face The Shadows (Drew Monti) made her competition ‘face the music’ in the stretch to collect a 1-1/4 length victory over Wildcat Delight (Brett MacDonald) in 1:58.2. Major Megan (Leon Bailey) took the show check.
Wildcat Delight was able to stomp out fractions of :29.0, 1:00 and 1:29.4 over the good track. But Face The Shadows ($7.44) was first over and was able to tip three-wide in the lane and had more than enough momentum to swoop past Wildcat Delight. A :58.2 final half was the key for Face The Shadows in getting the win.
Co-owned by the El Dorado Stable and Michael Torcello, Face The Shadows (Shadow Play-Face To Face) is trained by Samuel Smith. The victory was the first in five tries this season for Face The Shadows and has produced $11,000 in earnings on the campaign and $151,309 lifetime.
In the sub-featured $10,500 pace for the fillies and mares, Bee Okay A (David McNeight III) was more than okay as she toppled Just One Bite (MacDonald) by a solid length in 1:59.0 while Fox Valley Tatum (James McNeight Jr.) was third.
After grabbing the lead in the early going, Bee Okay A ($8.78) relinquished the advantage briefly to Just A Bite but wanted no part of a pocket journey and was able to drive back to the lead. Cruising through splits of :29.0, :49.1 and 1:29.0, Bee Okay A was on auto pilot down the long stretch and easily turned back any threats from Just One Bite and Fox Valley Tatum.
Owned by trainer Maria Rice and Jack Rice, it was the first win of the year in her seasonal debut for the 8-year-old Bee Okay A (A Rocknroll Dance-Be Nice Huther). The victory pushed her lifetime bankroll to $112,505 thanks to 19 lifetime wins.
Kevin Cummings topped the driver with four trips to the winner’s circle Monti and David McNeight III each getting a pair. Rachelle Mungillo and David Russo each had two training victories.
Racing will resume on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. with a 13-race program scheduled. For more information including the latest news, upcoming promotions, entries, results and race replays, go to www.buffaloraceway.com