from harness publicists across North America

The Friday (July 13) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Buffalo Raceway, Tioga Downs, Vernon Downs and Saratoga Casino Hotel.

BZ Glide victorious in Open Trot at Buffalo Raceway

Hamburg, NY — BZ Glide ($9.00) got the early jump on the field in Buffalo Raceway’s $11,500 Open Trot on Friday night (July 13) and just kept right on rolling to post a solid three-quarter length victory over Barn Winner in 1:57.4.

Steve Roth photo

BZ Glide never looked back in Buffalo Raceway’s Open Trot.

It was a wide open affair according to the toteboard with Fox Valley Veto (Jim Morrill Jr.) sent off as the lukewarm 5-2 post time favorite while BZ Glide, Southern Palms and Barn Winner were each dismissed at 7-2.

BZ Glide (Mike Caprio) nabbed the front end with relative ease, registering fractions of :28.4, :59.1 and 1:29 on the fast track. He braced himself for challengers in the stretch but no one could come up with the answer. Using a :28.4 last panel, BZ Glide never wavered in the lane and held off the timid bids of Barn Winner (Ray Fisher Jr.) and Fox Valley Veto who had to settle for the second and third place checks.

Owned by the Caprio Stable and trained by Alana Caprio, BZ Glide (Yankee Glide-Bloomer Zoomer) is a 9-year-old gelding who was won three times in nine attempts this season. The victory pushed his 2018 earnings to $27,600 and to $283,602 in his career.

Ray Fisher Jr. and Jim Morrill Jr. each had driving doubles on the card.

Racing will continue on Saturday night at Buffalo Raceway with an 11-race program scheduled for 6 p.m.

For more information including the latest news, simulcast schedule, upcoming promotions, race replays, results and entries, go to www.buffaloraceway.com.

— Brian J. Mazurek

Tioga Downs
Milky Way Rae (Aaron Byron) won the featured $11,000 fillies and mares pace at Tioga Downs on Friday. Heavens Dancer (Cory Stratton) controlled all the early fractions (:27.4, :57.4, 1:26). Milky Way Rae ($28.00) followed in the pocket all the way until the top of the stretch. Owned by Fortunate One and trained by Tony Dinges, she would zoom by in the stretch to win in 1:55. K J’s Caroline (Jim Taggart Jr.) fired late to finish second. All Charged Up (Mike Simons) was third best. Milky Way Rae is a 5-year-old mare by American Ideal. It was her fourth win this season and career victory number 20. Fern Paquet Jr. had a driving triple on the night. His wins were with Open Skies ($16.00), Sunset Dream ($11.00), and Embassy Seelster ($6.30). Earlier this year Chris James purchased a 5-year-old mare named Open Skies. Two weeks ago they were in the winner’s circle for the first time. Open Skies returned to the winner’s circle again Friday night and James found out it never gets old and is just as sweet the second time as the first time. Tioga Downs returns to live racing on Saturday (July 14) with a 13-race card starting at 6:15 p.m. For more information go to www.tiogadowns.com.

Vernon Downs
Taco Tuesday (Leon Bailey) won the $7,500 featured trot on Friday night at Vernon Downs. Taco Tuesday ($7.40) went right to the front and went gate-to-wire (:26.4, :57, 1:26, 1:54). The betting favorite Stormont Wizard (Chris Lems) used a late kick to finish second best. Third money went to Bloodstockshall Tab (Jimmy Whittemore). Taco Tuesday is a 5-year-old gelding by Cantab Hall. Owned by Vincent Laurenzo and trained by Don Hoover, he won for the second time this season and the 14th time in his career. Homer Hochstetler had a triple double on the night. He was the driver and trainer for three winners. He got his victories with If I Must ($3.00), First Call ($4.20), and Sweet Ashley T ($16.40). Live racing returns on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. with a 13-race card. Also there will be three heats for the Wiener Dog Trot. The top three finishers in each of the heats will race for a first prize of a $500 wagering voucher. Second place is good for a $200 wagering voucher with the third place finisher getting a $100 wagering voucher. For more information go to www.vernondowns.com.

Saratoga
Lady Shadow (Shadow Play) brought her $2 million-plus in lifetime earnings into Friday night’s Fillies and Mares Open at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The Melissa Beckwith trainee finished first or second in three consecutive installments of the lady’s feature heading into Friday night’s try in the $14,500 Open. Lady Shadow powered aggressively out from her assigned outside post with Mark Beckwith in the bike and didn’t stop until she reached the top. After posting a first quarter of :27.1, the veteran distaffer took them through a half in :56. The race’s favorite Spreester (Frank Coppola Jr.) rushed up first-over to challenge for the lead but was rebuffed by the career winner of $2 million. Bye Bye Michelle (Jimmy Devaux) was searching for a seam late and came up shy by a head while Tempus Seelster (Billy Dobson) earned the show spot in the mile clocked in 1:53. Lady Shadow, who won for the third time this season and second in five starts in the local Open, paid $6.40 to win and led an exacta and triple that came back $28.20 and $137.50, respectively. The race card was cut short after the seventh race due to a power outage at the track. Live racing continues on Saturday night at Saratoga with a first post time of 6:45 p.m.