from harness publicists across North America

The Friday (Sept. 28) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Batavia Downs, Saratoga Casino Hotel and Vernon Downs.

BZ Glide goes back-to-back in Batavia top trot

Batavia, NY — BZ Glide waved bye-bye to the field as he passed them all going from worst to first in the $10,500 Open Handicap trotting feature at Batavia Downs on Friday afternoon (Sept. 28).

Paul White photo

BZ Glide rolled by everyone to win in 1:57.

BZ Glide (Mike Caprio) got away last off the gate while Chelseas Chance (Billy Davis Jr.) smoked early fractions of :27 and :57. At that station, Southern Palms (Kevin Cummings) pulled first up with Call My Broker (Drew Monti) on his back and they tried to advance on the leader past the five-eighths. But Southern Palms’ bid failed and Call My Broker was forced to go wide around him.

At that point BZ Glide was locked in tight last behind horses fanning three deep at the three-quarters and things were looking bleak. But as the race progressed through the turn, Southern Palms finally faded to last allowing BZ Glide a spot to get off the pegs. Then a good five lengths off the leader and forced to tip three-wide himself, Caprio unleashed BZ Glide and the big horse responded heartily and rolled by everyone to win in 1:57.

It was the second straight top-class trot victory at Batavia Downs for BZ Glide ($5.20) who now has seven wins on the year and $56,343 earned for owner Caprio Stable and trainer Alana Caprio.

In the $8,000 Open II Trot, Bold Dresser (Shawn McDonough) was never headed, going gate-to-wire in 1:58.3 to score his fifth victory of the year. Harry Wortzman owns Bold Dresser ($3.70) who is trained by his driver, Shawn McDonough.

Drew Monti led all drivers on the night with three wins while Shawn McDonough and Ray Fisher Jr. each garnered a pair.

Racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday night (Sept. 29) with post time at 6 p.m.

— Tim Bojarski

Saratoga
Seventimesavirgin (Always A Virgin) made her local debut on Friday night while competing in the Fillies and Mares Open at Saratoga Casino Hotel. A superstar in her “younger” years, Seventimesavirgin earned just shy of a half million dollars in her 2- and 3-year-old campaigns. The 5-year-old mare came to the Spa for the first time on Friday to compete in the evening’s $16,000 feature for trainer Jimmy Nickerson. Billy Dobson got the driving assignment and the meet’s leading driver sat patiently in last with the mare who was backed by the bettors to the tune of odds of 1-5 in the five-horse feature. After the first half was paced in :56.2, Seventimesavirgin began to move from last, flushing out the cover of Spreester (Frank Coppola Jr.). Spreester moved first over and powered past the leader, grinding that one into submission at the head at the stretch. Seventimesavirgin tipped off her cover in the stretch and got up in time to edge Spreester for the win, a victory that came in 1:53.3. Spreester was the runner-up in the Open for the second consecutive Friday night while last week’s winner Happy Heart (Mark Beckwith) came on to earn the show spot. For Seventimesavirgin, it was victory number five on the season and an incredible 28th in 59 lifetime starts. Live racing continues at Saratoga on Saturday night with a first post time of 6:45 p.m.

Vernon Downs
Under The Bus (Truman Gale) charged late to win the featured $6,500 fillies and mare pace at Vernon Downs on Friday. Jaclyn Hanover (John MacDonald) controlled the early fractions (:25.4, :55, 1:24). Angel Speak (Claude Huckabone III) popped the pocket at the top of the stretch to take a short lead. Under The Bus ($9.10), who is owned by Hossman LLC and trained by Robert Gale, came flying in deep stretch to win her third straight with a time of 1:52.4. A Wish For Wings (Fern Paquet Jr.) fired late to finish second. Angel Speak held on to take third money. Under The Bus is a 4-year-old mare by Art Major. It was her sixth win of the season and her 10th career victory. Bluffton (Homer Hochstetler) captured the night’s top $6,000 trot race. Tournamant (Jimmy Whittemore) jumped out of the gate to lead to a first quarter of :27.3. Bluffton ($7.10) took over on the backstretch hitting the half in :57.3 and three-quarters in 1:26.3. Trained by Hochstetler for fellow owners Connie Hochstetler, Richard Buddig, and Alan Schwartz, he held off a late rush by second place finisher Cash N Chrome (Claude Huckabone III) to win in 1:55.2. If Not Why Not (Claude Huckabone Jr.) was third. Bluffton is a 3-year-old gelding by Muscle Mass. It was his fifth career win in 13 lifetime starts. All his wins were this season. Hochstetler and Joe Nassimos had driver-trainer doubles on the night. Hochstetler’s other win came with First Call ($10.40). Nassimos got his victories with Velocity Kelli ($3.20) and The Big Muscle ($2.70). Vernon Downs returns to live racing with a 13-race card on Saturday (Sept. 29) starting at 6:10 p.m. For more information go to www.vernondowns.com.