from Harness Publicists across North America

Tuesday’s (October 27) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Harrington Raceway, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, The Meadows, Colonial Downs and Monticello Raceway.

Delightful Diva upsets in Harrington feature

Harrington, DE — Lloyd Arnold’s Delightful Diva ($26, Tony Morgan) scored a wire-to-wire win Tuesday at Harrington Raceway in the featured $25,000 Mares Open.

Fotowon photo

Delightful Diva was a 1:54 winner in the Harrington feature.

The Tim Crissman-trainee left the gate alertly from post two and set all the fractions in her two length win over Apache Dame and VC Atom N. It was her sixth win of the year as her seasonal earnings surpassed $75,000.

Eighteen-year-old driver Montrell Teague registered his first ever driving triple on the program. Teague, son of one of the sport’s top trainers, George Teague, drove two of his father’s horses to victory (Firiel Hanover, Mozzi Hanover) and also Jason and Stanley Johnson’s Mememe in the second race.

Driver Ross Wolfenden won four races and further secured his spot as the second leading driver in the standings behind Tony Morgan. Jim Morand is currently third. Tim Crissman has the training title locked up with 90 wins, while brothers Wayne (72) and Les Givens (64) round out the top three.

— Matt Sparacino

Lolique and A Gentleman win featured trots at Pocono

Wilkes-Barre, PA — Lolique and A Gentleman scored wins in the Open I and Open II Trot races at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs Tuesday night.

In the $30,000 Open I Trot, Lolique, driven by John Wagner, sat fourth for almost three-quarters of the mile before making a three-wide move coming down the stretch to win in 1:53.2 over a track listed as ‘good’ with a light rain falling on and off.

Baby Boy Grin (Larry Stalbaum) set the table for Lolique and took the eight-horse field of Open trotters to an opening split in :27.2, the half in :56.1 and three-quarters in 1:24.2. Baby Boy Grin finished second in this race with third going to Tom’s OK Lady (Joe Pavia, Jr.), who was second throughout most of the race.

Lolique, also trained by Wagner, was winning for the 13th time in 2009 with earnings of more than $275,000.

Similar to Lolique, Tom Jackson sat third for most of the mile with A Gentleman before winning by three-quarters of a length over Super Chuck (Pavia Jr.), the front runner in the Open II race. Third in this trot was Swan Image (Kevin Sizer). The time was 1:54.4.

Santo Zuzolo trains A Gentleman, a winner for the fourth time in 22 starts this season.

— John Zimich

Tidewater Teddy completes Meadows series sweep

Washington, PA — Trailing by eight lengths at the half, Tidewater Teddy launched a second-over move that carried him to the lead and a sweep of the Watson Provost Memorial Series for freshman colt and gelding pacers Tuesday at The Meadows.

Tidewater Teddy captured both preliminary legs with mid-pack moves, and in the light rain of the $25,250 final, it was déjà vu all over again. Under the urging of Dick Stillings, Tidewater Teddy used the cover provided by Show Topper, then vaulted past to defeat that rival by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:54.3. Lap Hanover, the 4-5 favorite, recovered from an early break to finish third.

A private acquisition earlier this year by Umholtz Racing Stable and Kennedy Sports Corp., Tidewater Teddy had won just once in seven starts before his Provost sweep.

“I think I got him at just the right time. He’s been improving a little bit each week,” said Clair Umholtz, who trains the gelded son of The Panderosa-Miss Tootsie Roll. “He raced well at Delaware, and the break at Northfield the following week wasn’t his fault.”

Umholtz said Tidewater Teddy won’t race again this year.

“We’ll turn him out,” he said. “He’s grown some since we’ve had him, and I think he’ll fill out a little bit more. He has to go a lot faster to be a sires stake horse, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”

Bonners Creek collected a front-end victory in 1:55.1 in the $12,000 Provost consolation for Aaron Merriman and owner/trainer Lanny Merriman. Charmed Beauty was a nose back in second, with Metro Man a rallying third.

Merriman and Stillings each drove three winners on the 16-race card.

— Evan Pattak

Pansexual wins Horace Martin Memorial Pacing Series

New Kent, VA — Pansexual drove by Brian’s Joy just past the quarter pole, got the lead and never looked back in winning the 1-1/4 mile final leg of the Horace Martin Memorial Pacing Series Tuesday night at Colonial Downs.

Pansexual, who had wins in all three prior legs, swept the series and earned his sixth win of the fall meet in the $6,200 finale. His Martin Series wins have all come at different distances — one was at a mile while the other pair were at five-eighths and three-quarters of a mile, respectively. The 7-year-old The Panderosa gelding was sent off as the 3-5 betting choice in a field of six on Tuesday, but the win did not come easy.

After nemesis Brian’s Joy posted the first fraction of :28.3, Pansexual took command and triggered the next three in :58.4, 1:28.2 and 1:57.3. George Filion, who owns, trains and drives Brian’s Joy, left the pocket in mid-stretch and went toe to toe with Pansexual right to the finish. Pansexual beat Filion’s pacer by a neck in 2:25.3 over a sloppy track on a dreary evening.

The winner, who is owned by John Dixon and trained by Ben Gasque, returned $3.20 to win. Brian’s Joy, a 6-year-old Prince Brian gelding, was second and Honey Is That You took third.

— Darrell Wood

Bilmar Rustler scores at Monticello

Monticello, NY — Tuesday was a cloudy day with scattered showers and a heavy mist hung like a curtain over the racetrack at Monticello Raceway. But the temperatures hovered around 60 degrees and the racetrack had a good cushion, all factors which made for speedy times from the competing horses on the 13-race card that afternoon.

The slowest race of the day was clocked in 1:58.3 and the fastest was a 1:55.2 barn-burner in the $9,400 pacing feature which nearly ended in a dead heat. It was won by Bilmar Rustler and driver Mike Forte by the scantest of noses over Tricky Grin handled by Jordan Stratton.

Bilmar Rustler, from the Lisa Krom Stable, had just won an award at the Monticello-Goshen Chapter USHWA banquet for going from the claiming events to winning featured paces and Tuesday’s victory was an added surprise to all concerned, attested by the $60.50 win pay-off the pacer returned.

Stratton and Tricky Grin sped to the lead from the two-hole and cut the speedy fractions. Forte, on the other hand, was content in third position during the early going with Bilmar Rustler as Tricky Grin led the way and the Stratton–driven pacer still had a two length lead as he turned for home. But company was coming and it came with a rush. Blueridge D’Bang (Billy Dobson) and Arts Mattjesty (Jacques Primeau) were gunning for the leader but Bilmar Rustler, who was four lengths off the pace at the head of the lane, came late but was coming fastest of all.

The four pacers rushed to the finish line with Bilmar Rustler with the most pace and when he tripped the photo-camera many in attendance declared a dead-heat.

The judges, studying the finish, called for a print and Bilmar Rustler was declared the winner over Tricky Grin by the shortest of noses. Blueridge D’Bang was third best and a nose in front of Arts Mattjesty.

It was the ninth victory of the season for Bilmar Rustler, whose seasonal bankroll is now in excess of $45,000. He is owned by Elisha Lafreniere.

With that triumph Mike Forte notched his third driving victory of the day. Forte, by the way, recently returned to action after a three-month hiatus caused by a racing accident here in July.

— John Manzi