Hamburg, NY – Mercutio ($12.48) waited until the last possible stride to nip Shine All The Way by a head in Buffalo Raceway’s co-featured $14,700 Open Trot on Saturday afternoon (June 20).
Later in the card, Lanjo Lee ($28.52) made it three victories in his last four starts in the $14,700 Open Pace by rolling three-wide down the stretch to topple Trente Deo by a neck in 1:54.4.
(Brett MacDonald), who started from the rail, was able to draft comfortably behind in second as Shine All The Way (David McNeight III) set the fractions of :28.3, :57.3 and 1:27 over the fast track. With the heavily-favored Valentine Express breaking stride around the opening turn, it ended up boiling down to a sprint to the wire for Mercutio and Shine All The Way.
Unfortunately in the final strides, Shine All The Way, who did all the dirty work on the point, lost a bit of his luster as Mercutio used the passing lane extremely late and pulled out the victory in a seasonal best of 1:56.4. A :29.3 last panel proved to be the difference. The Governor (Michael Whelan) took the show spot.
Owned and trained by Shane Arsenault, it was the second victory in seven starts on the season for Mercutio (Bar Hopping-Frisky Magic). The win upped his 2026 bankroll to $18,744 and to $203,345 lifetime.
The early action in the Open Pace ended up paying off for Lanjo Lee (Kyle Cummings). Do Mischief, Stormalong and Toreador GB were all headstrong to get the lead while Lanjo Lee, who started from the outside eight post, was able to tuck into fifth.
With Stormalong in charge with fractions of :28.1, :57 and 1:26.1, things began to cave in on the front end.
Trente Deo (McNeight III) was first over and had the lead in the stretch but Lanjo Lee came roaring down the lane three-wide and registered the victory. Trente Deo held on for second place honors with Do Mischief (Kevin Cummings) finishing in third.
Owned by Gordon Swift and conditioned by Tammy Cummings, it was the fourth win in 15 tries this year for Lanjo Lee (So Surreal-My Drag Queen). The triumph took his seasonal winnings to $52,695 and to $403,133 in his career.
Racing will resume on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. with a 15-race card set. It’s a big afternoon of stakes action as the 3-year-old male and female trotters square off for $58,000 in each bracket in the New York Sire Stakes while there will be five $20,000 divisions of the Excelsior Series for ladies and gentlemen.
For more information including the latest news, upcoming promotions, entries, results and race replays, go to www.buffaloraceway.com.