Yonkers, NY — Reformed claimer Digital Z Tam (Dan Dube) was well-placed off a wicked Saturday night speed duel, winning Yonkers Raceway $38,000 Open Handicap Pace.

Assigned inside his five (after one defection) rivals, Digital Z Tam watched a spirited early floor show. Sapphire City (Eric Carlson), Heston Blue Chip (Larry Stalbaum) and Statesman N (Brent Holland) were all in the game.

What resulted was a :26.1 opening quarter-mile and :54.1 intermission. After Heston Blue Chip‘s second move, Digital Z Tam took out of fourth. That one assaulted the leader in and out of a 1:23 three-quarters, grabbing the advantage early in the lane.

Meanwhile, P H Supercam (Jason Bartlett), as the 9-10 choice, was racing at the back of the bus. He saved ground inside, and then angled out third-over. However, Digital Z Tam had too many things working on his behalf. He widened to whip 56-1 rank outsider Malak Uswaad N (Jordan Stratton) by a couple of lengths in season’s-best 1:51.3. P H Supercam settled for third, beaten 2-1/2 lengths.

For Digital Z Tam, a 10-year-old Cambest gelding owned and J M F Racing and trained by Gilberto Garcia-Herrera, he returned $29 (fourth choice) for his sixth win in a dozen seasonal starts. The exacta paid $369, with the triple returning $1,628.

— Frank Drucker

Hoosier Park Racing & Casino
Good Sound Advice and driver Peter Wrenn used a perfect, pocket trip to capture the co-featured event of the evening, a $22,000 Invitational trot, at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Saturday, May 17. Slightly dismissed at the windows, Good Sound Advice was able to surge late in the lane to score in 1:53.4, a lifetime best performance.Leaving from post six, Wrenn sent Good Sound Advice away from the gate alertly but last week’s winner Martz Time, driven by Trace Tetrick, left the quickest. Martz Time secured the lead around the first quarter mark in :27.3 while the rest of the field sorted out the early positions. Good Sound Advice was well placed in second while the heavily favored, Summer Indian was next in line in third. Martz Time continued to dictate fractions of :57 and 1:25.3 while the field remained in single file order approaching the final turn. Hugh Beatty was the first to commit to the outer flow and had Southwind Pepino aimed at the leader around the final turn with Go Tapaigh and Ray Paver in tow. Martz Time was able to hold off Southwind Pepino late in the lane, but Good Sound Advice loomed large in the pocket. Wrenn found late racing room in the stretch and when he asked Good Sound Advice for more, the 5-year-old responded gamely with a :27.4 final panel to win by a head. Martz Time held on for the second place finish while Southwind Pepino rounded out the trifecta. Good Sound Advice returned $9.60 for the victory. “The race worked out perfect for us tonight,” Wrenn noted after the victory. “This horse is much better when he gets a trip and I was able to leave just enough to get a good spot. He has been racing well but he was really on his game tonight.” Trained by Melanie Wrenn, Good Sound Advice scored his fourth win from ten seasonal outings. The gelded son of Kadabra-Good As Your Word has now won ten of 66 lifetime outings while bankrolling $312,067 lifetime for his connections of Wrenn Racing, LLC and Oldford Farms.

Tioga Downs
After stalking moderate early fractions, Splitsville ($3.70) made his move to the fore on the backstretch, driven clear late to prevail in Saturday (May 17) evening’s $14,000 Open Handicap trot at Tioga Downs. It was the fourth consecutive win for the 5-year-old Hard Rock N Roll gelding, who launched a first-over bid as pacesetter Brookroad Knight (Corey Braden) rated a :58 half-mile with Wisenheimer (Mike Merton) stalking from the pocket. Driver Jim Marohn, Jr. forced a quickening tempo on the backstretch, striking the lead with Splitsville through three-quarters in 1:25.3, wearing down Brookroad Knight, and holding off a three-wide bid form Wisenheimer for a 1:54.2 victory. Splitsville, who scored his 21st career win, is trained by Rob Harmon for the Harmon Racing Stable. Marohn scored a driving hat trick on the night, also victorious with Jolly Lester (1:55.0) and Fox Valley Legend (1:57), but was kept at bay for the top spot in the seasonal driving standings by Aaron Byron, whose victory with Sundowner Bob (2:00) kept him with a scant 13-12 lead early in the meet.