by harness racing publicists across North America

The Friday (Aug. 25) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Saratoga Casino and Hotel, Tioga Downs, Vernon Downs and Batavia Downs.

Beyonces Rockn wins Saratoga feature

Saratoga, NY — Beyonces Rockn (Rock N Roll Heaven) was destiny’s child at Saratoga Casino Hotel as the 5-year-old mare scored in the Friday (Aug. 25) feature. Making her local debut, Beyonces Rockn moved out to the early lead in the $10,500 feature for fillies and mares and the Jennifer Lappe trainee never looked back.

Melissa Simser-Iovino photo

Beyonces Rockn scores in her Saratoga debut.

The invader didn’t face her first challenge until checking in at three quarters in 1:26 when Walk Two Moons (Frank Coppola Jr.) rolled up to the outside of the 3-1 shot Beyonces Rockn. The eventual winner had little difficultly thwarting that bid before being faced with the chore of holding off the favored Sometimes Graceful (Wally Hennessey) who got the pocket trip on Friday.

Beyonces Rockn, who had competed in Opens at Yonkers and Tioga earlier in the summer, rediscovered the winning way as she hit the line first in 1:54.1 for her eighth victory of the season. Sometimes Graceful came up second best while Walk Two Moons earned the show spot.

Beyonces Rockn, who was driven to victory by Bruce Aldrich Jr., paid $8.40 to win and led an exacta and triple that returned $28 and $79.50, respectively.

Live racing continues on Saturday night at the Spa with a 7:05 p.m. first post.

— by Mike Sardella

Tioga Downs

The longest shot in the field Embassy Seelster (Fern Paquet Jr.), wins the featured fillies and mares pace at Tioga Downs on Friday night (Aug. 25) for a purse of $9,000. Goldstar Rockette (Jim Meittinis) would surge to the front and control the pace with :26.4 to the first quarter and hitting the half in :56.4. Sudden Change N (Jim Taggart Jr.) would take over the lead at the three-quarter mark. Embassy Seelster (Modern Art), who is owned Jerry Clark Racing LLC and trained by Paquet, would somehow squeeze through an opening and get the win in 1:52.4. Sudden Change N (Changeover) would finish second best. Goldstar Rocketter (Rock On) hung on for third. Embassy Seelster ($35.20) would win for the sixth time this season and would earn her 30th career victory. The red hot Jim Meittinis would win three on the night. His first victory came with Prairie Cowgirl ($3.70). His second win was with Rollingndiamonds ($8.60). His third time in the winner’s circle was with Prairie Diamonds ($9.30). Live racing and “Corntastic” weekend continues on Saturday (Aug. 26) with an 11-race card starting at 6:50 p.m. For more information go to www.tiogadowns.com.

Vernon Downs

Vernon Downs leading driver John MacDonald would continue to dominate at the Miracle Mile with six wins on Friday (Aug. 25). Pop I (John MacDonald) would capture the featured trot ($7,500), by going gate-to-wire and setting all the fractions, :27.4, :57.2, 1:26.1, 1:55.1. Sweet Ashley T (Homer Hochstetler) would finish second. Twice Too Nice (Brett Crawford) came up to get third. Pop I (Andover Hall) is owned by Glat Kosher Racing and trained by Harry Landy. The 7-year-old would pay $5.20 for the victory. He won for the third time this season and the 27th time in his career. MacDonald’s other wins came with Aerial Flight ($3.70), Miss Ruby ($5.30), Ozymandias ($9.00), Pinky The Intern ($6.20), and Thundercrest ($6.60). Vernon Downs returns to live action on Saturday night (Aug. 26) at 6:45 p.m. For more information go to www.vernondowns.com.

Batavia Downs

After spending most of his summer racing the New York fair circuit, Barn Winner made a rare evening pari-mutuel appearance and went home victorious in the $10,000 Open Handicap trot at Batavia Downs on Friday night (Aug. 25). It seemed way too easy. Barn Winner (Kevin Cummings) left from post one and yielded the lead to Lutetium (John Cummings Jr.) in the first turn and from there he just had to sit and wait. Lutetium took the group through fractions of :28.1, :57.4 and 1:27 before he started showing signs of fatigue. At the top of the far turn, Cummings pulled Barn Winner and he trotted right on by the leader and just kept on going. BZ Glide (Mike Caprio) came flying late outside and Corleone Hall (Drew Monti) found room up the passing lane, but Barn Winner held them at bay and won by a length in 1:57.1. It was the eighth win in 17 starts this year for Barn Winner ($7.80) and it provided him with a new lifetime mark as well. Now boasting earnings of $30,980 for 2017, Barn Winner is owned by Steve and Nancy Pratt and is trained by Steve Pratt. In the co-featured $8,000 Open II trot, Egosnattitudes (Larry Stalbaum) came from sixth and made a bold three-wide move at three-quarters to sweep the field and catch the front-running Nobel Legend (Ray Fisher Jr.) by a neck to win in 1:56.4. Egosnattitudes ($13.00) is owned by Graham Grace Stables LLC and is trained by Kim Asher. Kevin Cummings and Larry Stalbaum both had driving hat tricks on Friday while Drew Monti captured two races of his own. Joe Skowyra had a training triple with Angelo Nappo garnerning two training wins as well. Racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Aug. 26) with the first race post set at 6 p.m.