from harness publicists across North America

Friday’s (July 24) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Yonkers Raceway, The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Buffalo Raceway, Tioga Downs, Vernon Downs and Saratoga Casino and Raceway.

Cinamony makes it five straight at Yonkers

Yonkers, NY — The next time they beat Cinamony (George Brennan, $8.10) here would be the first time they beat Cinamony here.

Sean Hamrock photo

Cinamony won her fifth straight race in Friday’s Fillly & Mare Open Handicap Pace at Yonkers Raceway.

The form spree continued Friday night (July 24), as the lass won Yonkers Raceway’s $48,000 Filly and Mare Open Handicap Pace.

Assigned outside what became her six rivals (Road Bet came up ill), Cinamony had to wait her turn before making the lead. She did so around arch enemy—and 11-10 favorite–Krispy Apple (Jason Bartlett) just after a :27.2 opening quarter-mile.

It was a :55.3 intermission before Caribbean Rose N (Brian Sears) moved from fourth, not getting all that close at a 1:23.3 three-quarters. Cinamony owned a length-and-a-half lead into the lane before holding Krispy Apple at bay in 1:51.3, matching her own (along with two others) track record for 4-year-old mares. The final margin was three-quarters of a length.

Third went to a non-threatening Caribbean Rose N, with Handsoffmycupcake (Dan Dube) and Alhambra (Larry Stalbaum) completing the cashers.

For third choice Cinamony, a daughter of Art Official co-owned (as Burke Racing) by (trainer) Ron Burke and Weaver Bruscemi, it was her sixth win in 10 seasonal starts (5-for-5 since hitting town). The exacta paid $15.20, with the triple returning $45.20.

The Raceway’s live season continues Saturday night (first post 7:10 p.m.), then next Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (all at 7:10 p.m.), with a “French-centric” Tuesday matinee (first post 1 p.m.).

— Frank Drucker

The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono
With other drivers named “Miller” campaigning in the sulky regularly in eastern Pennsylvania, such as Hall of Famer David, Andy, and Brett (combined lifetime win total = 26,618), it might be easy to overlook 26-year-old Marcus Miller as a talented driver who brings in more than his share of longshots, as he proved again Friday night at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, as he rallied Envious Hanover ($68.40) from last to take the $30,000 mares open handicap pace. Marcus was actually in the pocket the first quarter with the daughter of Western Ideal, as inside-to-out Twin B Elite, Gianna’s Delight, and Request For Parole were three-across arguing the 26.1 opener. Request For Parole finally made the front and put down a “moderate for Pocono” :56 middle half, with Miller and Envious Hanover first staying in and then backing out to follow first-up Scandalicious. Sixth and last, four lengths back, swinging for home, Envious Hanover improved her position wide, but was still fourth with 100 feet to go; however, her late jet carried her to a nose decision over Gianna’s Delight, rallying from the pocket, with Scandalicious holding gamely for third in the 1:50.1 mile. Brandon Todd trains the winner for A Piece Of The Action LLC. The victory was the fourth of the meet with a horse paying $50 or more for Marcus Miller; no other driver has more than two. In 2014, he was the only driver to have two horses pay $100 or more at Pocono, and at Philly he had the longest-priced winner of the meet in $158.60 Boozy Suzy. The fans should be catching on to Marcus Miller soon.

Buffalo Raceway
No hurry. No worry. That’s got to be the motto for BZ Glide and driver Mike Caprio as once again their patience paid off in a victory. BZ Glide ($3.20) used his familiar late charge, going from last to first, to take a head win over Studio City in the featured $10,500 Open Trot at Buffalo Raceway Friday night (July 24). He covered the mile in 1:58.1 over the fast track. The race went pretty much true to form as Lutetium (Kevin Cummings) took his usual seat on the front end while BZ Glide settled back to ride the tailgate in fifth. After watching Lutetium set fractions of 29.1, 59.4 and 1:29.1, BZ Glide, who skimmed the pylons the entire mile, found plenty of racing room in the lightning lane. Caprio used some urging in the stretch and BZ Glide responded by storming to the wire to post the decision. Studio City (Ron Beback Jr.) got up in time for second while the tiring Lutetium held on for third. It was the third consecutive win for the 6-year-old gelded BZ Glide (Yankee Glide-Bloomer Zoomer). Owned by the Caprio Stable and trained by Alana Caprio, it was the fourth victory in seven tries in 2015 for BZ Glide, now a winner of $25,250 this season and $142,207 lifetime. The final weekend of racing continues on Saturday night with a 12-race card set to get underway at 6:35 p.m. The 2015 season will conclude on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. with 11 races.

Tioga Downs
Tracking live cover on the backstretch, Dan Clements’s Mach It A Par ($3.00) showed immediate response at the top of the stretch once again, taking Friday (July 24) evening’s $12,000 Mares Open Pace at Tioga Downs in decisive–and well-measured–fashion. Getting away last in the field of six, John Cummings, Jr. angled the 5-year-old Mach Three mare second-over to track the live cover of Shutthefrontdoor (Vern Smith) well off a :55.4 half mile. Mach It A Par was towed into midfield on the backstretch as Shutthefrontdoor turned up the pressure on leader K J’s Caroline (Jim Taggart, Jr.) past three-quarters in 1:24. K J’s Caroline ultimately gave way midway on the far turn, but Shutthefrontdoor’s new-found lead was in jeopardy at head-stretch. Mach It A Par tipped off cover just upon cornering, and surged to the fore in mid-stretch. She was taken in hand with 70 yards to go, and she prevailed by a measured half-length in 1:52.2. Shutthefrontdoor held second, and K J’s Caroline checked in a worn-down third. Renaldo Morales, III trains Mach It A Par, now a 14-time winner. Cummings led all drivers on the evening, notching three wins on the 10-race card.

Vernon Downs
John MacDonald was the star of the Friday (July 24) night show at Vernon Downs, winning four races on the evening’s 11-race card. In addition to victories aboard Elettrizzante ($12.00, 1:57.3), Martinique ($3.10, 1:53.3), and Table Games ($3.30, 1:54.1), the 33-year-old driver teamed up with Express Jet ($9.90) in the evening’s featured $7,000 conditioned distaff pace. Away the best in a field of six, Express Jet ceded the lead to Southwind Serenity (Truman Gale) after a :27.4 initial quarter, drafting comfortably from the pocket with no shortage of racing room through the race’s middle stages. As Southwind Serenity accelerated off the far turn through three-quarters in 1:25, Express Jet worked to stay in close pursuit. In mid-stretch, the 6-year-old Jereme’s Jet mare took the lead from the longtime pacesetter, edging clear and subsequently holding off the late-charging Aritzia Hanover (Claude Huckabone, III) by three-quarters of a length for a 1:53.1 triumph. MacDonald, who recorded a training double in addition to his driving grand slam, trains Express Jet for the J P Stables and Crawford Partners, LLC.

Saratoga Casino and Raceway
Deliciouslynaughty (Mach Three) poked her nose out in time to win a close photo in the Friday feature at Saratoga Casino and Raceway. Stephane Bouchard piloted the 8-year-old mare for trainer Andy Sardella and worked out a second-over journey for the race’s 7-5 betting favorite. Fanning three-wide around the final turn, Deliciouslynaughty charged hard in the final strides to photo with longshot Palm Beach (Wally Hennessey) who wound up finishing second in the $15,000 Spa Mares I Handicap. The race’s front-runner Mcever (Billy Dobson) held on for third. It was the ninth victory of the year for the veteran Deliciouslynaughty who stopped the timer in 1:54.2 in Friday’s feature. Live racing continues on Saturday night with the $260,000 Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial Pace highlighting a program with more than a half-million dollars in purses. Track record holder Dancin Yankee returns to the Spa for the first time since a dazzling 1:48.4 to win last year’s Gerrity. First post time is set for 7:05 p.m.