by harness racing publicists across North America

The Friday (Aug. 4) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Plainridge Park, Batavia Downs, Vernon Downs and Saratoga Raceway.

Beautiful Lady sneaks in late for Plainridge win

Plainville, MA — After a two-week sabbatical, Beautiful Lady returned to the track and tripped-out to win in the featured $14,000 conditioned event for fillies and mares at Plainridge Park on Friday afternoon (Aug. 4).

Tom Melanson photo

Beautiful Lady beats them all in the feature at Plainridge on Friday.

Beautiful Lady (Greg Merton) left for position and tucked in second behind the front-running Iheartquestionmark (Steve Nason) at the quarter in :26.2. Positions remained unchanged until the half when Hilaria (Nick Graffam) pulled first-over and started to advance.

Hilaria drew alongside Iheartquestionmark and the two matched strides to the three-quarters in 1:24 while Beautiful Lady lay in wait third behind them.

The head-end duel continued around the far turn and to the top of the stretch when Beautiful Lady found a sliver of room along the pylons and shot the gap. Merton rocked and rocked and pushed her through and then Beautiful Lady did the rest, pacing away to a one-length victory in 1:53.

It was the third win of the year for Beautiful Lady ($4.80) and it pushed her seasonal earnings to $32,467 for owners Lester Gelardi Jr. and Anthony Passafaro. The 6-year-old daughter of Rocknroll Hanover is trained by Monique Cohen.

Steve Nason had a banner afternoon at The Ridge driving three winners and training two of them as well. The tracks leading driver Greg Merton also had a driving double on the afternoon.

Live racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Monday afternoon with the first post set at 4 p.m.

— by Tim Bojarski

Batavia Downs

Heavy storms blew through western New York and provided less than desirable conditions, but an off-track and six foes couldn’t keep BZ Glide from getting to the winner’s circle in the $10,500 Open handicap trot at Batavia Downs on Friday night (Aug. 4). Noble Legend (Ray Fisher Jr.) left with the gate and dropped in second behind Lutetium (Ron Beback Jr.) who was not about to give up the front. The race then proceeded from there in single-file order in :28.3 and :59.1. Pulling first-over at that point was Jim Dandy (Jim McNeight Jr.) who brought BZ Glide (Mike Caprio) in tow fourth. The outer flow was dull and Jim Dandy had trouble getting to the leader up the backside, but he finally drew alongside around the final bend. At the top of the stretch Lutetium and Jim Dandy were joined by three –across by Noble Legend who ducked in the passing lane. But the final blow came when BZ Glide, who had drafted second-over, tipped four-deep around Jim Dandy and out-trotted everyone down the lane, pulling away to an easy length victory in 2:00.1. BZ Glide ($4.00) registered his third win of the year and 33rd win of his career. The 8-year-old gelded son of Yankee Glide is owned by the Caprio Stable LLC and is trained by Alana Caprio. In the $8,000 Open II trot, Striker Ace (Ray Fisher Jr.) pulled first-over from fourth at the three-eighths and advanced to the lead by the three-quarters before opening up a three-length lead and trotting home handily to win by four in 1:58.3. Striker Ace ($25.60), who is now two for two at Batavia Downs, is owned by Finish Line Investors and John Mungillo, who also trains the winner. “Drivin” Drew Monti had a grand slam Friday winning with Doing Some Damage (1:57.1, $27.40), Tenor Duharas (2:01.1, $5.00), Button Fly (1:56.2, $33.20) and Rollovin (1:57.4, $6.40). Kevin Cummings also had a driving triple and Larry Stalbaum registered a double. Conditioner Rose Russo sent two sent two trainees to the winner’s circle for photographs. Racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday night with a guaranteed pool of $6,000 for the early Pick-5 which goes in races one through five. The carry-over pool for that wager is $3,281. Post time for the first race is 6 p.m.

Vernon Downs

The Big Muscle (Joe Nassimos) would come flying late to steal the featured trot ($5,100) at Vernon Downs on Friday night (Aug. 4). Gottalottacredit (John MacDonald) controlled all the early fractions :27.4, :58.1, 1:28.1, but would die out in the stretch. The Big Muscle (Muscle Mass) who is owned by Brian Bain and Pamela Miller and trained by Nassimos would end up in a blanket finish with She’s Uncorked (Chris Lems) and Williams Wish (Leon Bailey). The Big Muscle ($8.80) would win by a neck in the end in 1:57.3. It was the fourth win of the season for the 5-year-old gelding. She’s Uncorked would settle for second and Williams Wish finished third. Leading driver John MacDonald followed up his six wins from Thursday night with three more wins on Friday. He would win with On The Tab ($3.80), Divination ($56.50), and Ozzymandias ($6.40). Vernon Downs returns with a 10-race card on Saturday (Aug. 5) staring at 6:45 p.m. For more information go to www.vernondowns.com.

Saratoga Raceway

West Liberty (Western Terror) prevailed in the $9,500 Friday feature for fillies and mares at Saratoga Casino Hotel. Following a second place finish last week when dismissed at odds of 12-1, West Liberty again received little backing by the betting public on Friday night when she wound up getting away fourth in the five-horse feature for distaffers. Driver Jimmy Devaux activated the Bruce Bentley-trained mare heading towards three-quarters and West Liberty surged right past the race’s favorite Her Own Land (Mark Beckwith). West Liberty, who paid $22.00 to win, stopped the timer in 1:53.3, the fastest win time of the year for the 6-year-old mare. Sometimes Graceful (Wally Hennessey) came on for second as she hit the board for the fifth consecutive time in the class while Her Own Land had to settle for third. Live racing continues on Saturday night at Saratoga with a 7:05 p.m. first post.