from harness publicists across North America

Friday’s (June 12) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Buffalo Raceway, Tioga Downs, Vernon Downs and Saratoga Casino and Raceway.

Cummings, Monti triple at Buffalo Raceway

Hamburg, NY — There was a 10-race card at Buffalo Raceway Friday night (June 12) and between drivers Kevin Cummings, Drew Monti and Jack Flanigen, they weren’t in much of a sharing mood.

The trio combined to win eight races of the 10 races on the program with Cummings and Monti having triples while Flanigen notched a double.

Cummings, who is the leading driver at Buffalo Raceway, padded his total with three wins. He scored with Ahead Of The Crowd ($3.80), Instant Hit ($3.80) and Livefreeordiehard ($4.00). Cummings now has 164 wins on the campaign.

Monti found pay dirt three times with McArdle Direct ($25.20), Dante Seelster ($26.20) and Two Smart ($3.00). The three-bagger put him over the 100-win barrier for the season at Buffalo Raceway as he now stands at 102 victories.

Flanigen, who had combined for 13 victories in the past three Friday night cards, added two more to that total. He drove Emiliana ($8.00) and Dancin Thea ($8.20) to the scores.

Mike Caprio and Shawn McDonough each had singles to complete the driver’s actions.

Racing will continue on Saturday night when an 11-race card goes to the post at 6:35 p.m. For more information including the latest news, race replays, results and upcoming promotions, go to www.buffaloraceway.com.

— Brian Mazurek

Tioga Downs
Making her push to the fore on the backstretch yet again, Somenicebeach ($3.20) reeled off her second consecutive victory in Friday evening’s $14,000 Mares Open Pace at Tioga Downs. The 4-year-old daughter of Somebeachsomewhere was only better than one of her four rivals in the early stages of the race, settling well behind pacesetter Senorita Santanna (John Cummings Jr.) through a :55.2 initial half-mile. On the backstretch, Mike Simons angled Somenicebeach off the pegs, and she made steady ground, taking a narrow lead from Senorita Santanna through three-quarters in 1:23.3. Senorita Santanna would fight back on the far turn, but was ultimately put away by Somenicebeach at head-stretch. Stormunn (Aaron Byron) angled off the pegs to chase off her pocket trip, but could only close to within a length of Somenicebeach, a 1:52.3 winner over good going. Sophie Desroches owns and trains Somenicebeach, who earned her 11th career win. Simons scored a driving hat trick on the evening, also teaming up with Maejusmac ($5.70, 1:52.2) and Prince Jubilee ($32.20, 1:54) earlier in the nine-race card. Live racing returns to Tioga Downs on Saturday (June 13) evening, with the first race slated for a 6:15 p.m. (EDT) post time.

Vernon Downs
Despite getting away last in a field of five, The Filly Princess ($21.00) sustained a first-over push to the lead and held clear for an upset win in Friday evening’s $10,000 Mares Open Pace at Vernon Downs. Frank Davis took the 7-year-old Bettor’s Delight mare off a contested pace, which saw Keene Olivia (Chris Lems) work to clear Purity (John MacDonald) through a blistering :25.4 first quarter before yielding. As Purity reclaimed the lead on the backstretch, The Filly Princess commenced her first-over rally, steadily making up ground through the third quarter. The Filly Princess turned up the pressure after Purity hit three-quarters in 1:23.1, advancing to a joint lead at the top of the stretch. As The Filly Princess took a narrow lead with an eighth of a mile to go, Purity hopped in the air, going off stride and losing all chance. Meanwhile, The Filly Princess held clear of a late challenge from Keene Olivia to prevail in 1:51.3 over the sloppy going, while Artic Byrd (Truman Gale) finished third. Andy Gardner trains The Filly Princess for Standardbred Ventures Inc. Live racing returns at Vernon on Saturday (June 13) evening, with first post at 6:45 p.m. (EDT).

Saratoga Casino and Raceway
There were two divisions of the Spa Spring Claiming Series for trotters on Friday night at Saratoga Casino and Raceway. The $5,000 claimers battled for purses of $7,500 per division and both races resulted in mild upsets. Haymaker (Billy Dobson) sprung the two hole heading towards the three-quarter pole and surged away from his rivals to win in 1:58.3. The Tim Benson-trained trotter recorded his first victory of the season and did so at odds of 6-1. The other division was won by Jordan Derue’s Net Revenue (Revenue S). Derue owns, trains and drives the mare who aggressively moved to the lead and would not surrender. Net Revenue’s first score of 2015 came in 1:59.1 as she was dismissed at odds of 5-1. Leg two of the trotting series will take place next Friday before the final in two weeks, a race to be contested at a distance of 1-1/4 miles. Live racing continues on Saturday night at Saratoga with a first post time of 6:45 p.m.