Hamburg, NY — Imprincessgemma A was the queen at Buffalo Raceway on a soggy Wednesday afternoon (April 3) as she held off a stubborn Summer Slash by a head in the $14,000 Open Pace for fillies and mares.

Driver Billy Davis Jr. made his journey from Northfield Park worthwhile as he steered 12-1 shot Imprincessgemma A ($27.60) to the feature win. He finished the day with a triple, also winning with Century Grizzly ($2.90) and Traffic Citation ($15.80).

Imprincessgemma A wasted little time getting to the top and showed the way through splits of :29.2, :58.3 and 1:27.1. From there, it was a two-horse breakaway as Summer Slash (Ray Fisher Jr.) pulled on nearly even terms with Imprincessgemma A turning for home. The two went stride for stride, but Imprincessgemma A never gave up the advantage and hung on for the narrow 1:56.1 score. Summer Slash settled for second while Magical Mistress (Kevin Cummings) was third.

Imprincessgemma A squeezed out a narrow win at Buffalo. Barnstormer Images.

Owned by Elite Harness Racing LLC and conditioned by Shawn McDonough, Imprincessgemma A earned her second win in eight starts this season.

The victory moved the 10-year-old Village Jolt mare’s bankroll in 2024 to $19,650 and $609,189 lifetime.

Cummings had a driving triple while Samuel Smith had three training wins and McDonough two.

Racing at Buffalo Raceway will resume on Friday afternoon (April 5) at 2:30 p.m. with an 11-race program set. For more information, including the latest news, upcoming promotions, entries, results and race replays, go to buffaloraceway.com.