by harness racing publicists across North America

The Saturday (July 2) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from The Meadows, Buffalo Raceway, Tioga Downs, Bluegrass Downs, Vernon Downs, Saratoga and Running Aces.

Easy Again repeats with late rally in Meadows $18,000 pace

Washington, PA — Last by 4-1/2 lengths into the final turn and finding no seam available, Easy Again swung wide and roared through the lane to score his second straight win in Saturday’s (July 2) $18,000 Preferred Handicap Pace at The Meadows.

Chris Gooden photo

Easy Again captures his second consecutive feature contest at The Meadows.

Unlocked, the even-money favorite, appeared comfortable on the lead and headed to victory when Dave Palone opened the throttle on Easy Again. The 7-year-old Dragon Again-Kuklapanandollie gelding triumphed in 1:51.3, downing Unlocked by a head, with Techtor Hanover third.

Ron Burke trains Easy Again, who now boasts career earnings of $873,018, for Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, M1 Stable and Panhellenic Stable. It was one of four wins for Palone on the 13-race card.

Live racing at The Meadows resumes with a special Monday (July 4 card) with first post at 5 p.m. Highlighting the program are a pair of total-pool guarantees—15,000 for the Pick-5, $5,000 for the Pick-4.

— by Evan Pattak

Buffalo Raceway

The fireworks started two days early at Buffalo Raceway as American Bull was as hot as a firecracker in deep stretch and blew up the tote board with a $38.20 victory in the featured $9,000 Open II Pace on Saturday (July 2) night. Getting a pocket journey for most of the mile, American Bull (Todd Cummings) was able to win the cavalry charge to the finish by beating Jolt Of Whiskey (Kevin Cummings) by a neck while Bad Fox (Lee Dahn) took third. Big Bad George played give-and-go with American Bull to set the tempo with times of :30.0, :59.2 and 1:29.1. But in the final panel of pacing action, the favored Big Bad George was in retreat mode while American Bull, Jolt Of Whiskey and Bad Fox were gearing up three-wide heading for the wire. Using the passing lane, American Bull had all the momentum in the shadow of the finish line to power past Jolt Of Whiskey and Bad Fox in 1:58.0. Owned by Sidney Easton and trained by Anthony Cummings, American Bull (American Ideal-Touch Of Pearls) is a 5-year-old gelding that has two wins in 11 appearances this season. The win upped his 2016 bankroll to $15,210 and $103,865 lifetime. It was a great night for Shawn McDonough as he drove home four winners and had a pair of training victories while Drew Monti had a triple in the bike. Maria Rice had a training double. Racing will resume on Sunday (July 3) afternoon at 12:30 p.m. with a 12-race program scheduled. For more information including upcoming promotions, the latest news, race replays and results, go to www.buffaloraceway.com.

Tioga Downs

Prairie Fortune ($6.60) lived up to favored billing in Saturday (July 2) evening’s featured $11,000 Open I Trot at Tioga Downs, vaulting off second-over cover and sprinting clear to a 1:54.2 victory. The 4-year-old Arapa Victory gelding passed all six of his rivals, getting away last in the field of seven as Dragin the Wagon (Fern Paquet, Jr.) sprinted off to a :26.4 first quarter. After Dragin the Wagon yielded command to Kahoku (John Cummings, Jr.) with a circuit to go, Prairie Fortune commenced two-wide progress int0 the clubhouse turn, ultimately flushing cover from Write That Down (Dan Clements) on the backstretch into middle splits of :55.3 and 1:24.1. As Write That Down intensified pressure on Kahoku through the far turn, Meittinis angled Prairie Fortune three-wide off the corner to sweep past. Prairie Fortune drew off comfortably while in hand, working to a 1-1/2 length winning margin. Dragin the Wagon emerged out of traffic to save second, while Write That Down was an engulfed third off his sustained first-over gains. Trainer Mike Deters co-owns Prairie Fortune in partnership with breeder Laurie Poulin. Corey Braden captured his 2,000th career driving win in a $4,000 trotting event, using a similar late push off the far turn with Chip Chip Page ($9.20) to eclipse pacesetter Lock N Load Annie in 2:00.3. The Summer Claiming Series for pacers culminated as well on the nine-race card, as a resurgent Sailin Metro ($3.20) dug in off the turn to salvage his first-over bid and stave off Rebel Jet for a 1:53.2 score in the $14,000 final. Owner Dan Clements handled the driving duties for trainer Ronnie Morales III. Clements led all drivers with three wins on the nine-race card. Live racing returns to Tioga on Sunday (July 3) afternoon, with post time at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.

Bluegrass Downs

The first Red, White and Bluegrass Dollar Day was such a success at Bluegrass Downs, leading to a season high handle and non-triple crown attendance that it will be repeated on Sunday (July 3). Dollar soda, programs, hot dogs and chips will once again be available on Sunday (July 3) as we celebrate the the Fourth of July holiday. On a track rated fast, despite showers veteran driver Randy Jerrell scored a driving triple. He won the weekly Winners Over Trot with track-record holder Custom Tag in the opener and then scored with Mind Your Business and Yankee Road to complete the triple. Seven different trainers won races on the card. Racing returns on Sunday (July 3) with a first post of 4:00 p.m. and the twin features are the weekly pacing Winners Over events.

Vernon Downs

Fresh off his Canada Day hat trick, driver John MacDonald registered another three-win night on Saturday (July 2) at Vernon Downs–but he had to share top honors with Chris Lems over the course of the nine-race card. MacDonald held sway narrowly with the favored Count Speed ($4.60) in the featured $5,500 Miracle Mile Trot, controlling the pace and prevailing over the first-over Walk the Floor in 1:55.2. The “Prime Minister” also trains the 7-year-old Majestic Son gelding for owners Paul and Patricia O’Neil. MacDonald’s other two driving wins on the night came aboard Doug Miller trainee Shoemaker Hanover ($7.80, 1:58.1) and Dave Dewhurst trainee Choke Hold ($4.80, 1:56.2). Lems drove the longest-priced winner of the night in Fox Valley Photog ($46.00, 1:57) as part of his hat trick, also teaming up with Winbak Meadow ($9.40, 1:58) and the impressive Swinging Royalty ($2.20, 1:54.1), who sprinted off to a 15-length triumph in a $3,600 trotting event for young distaffers. After a dark day on Sunday (July 3), Vernon Downs will offer a 12-race Independence Day card. Post time on Monday (July 4) is slated for 1:25 p.m. Eastern.

Saratoga

Artful Way (Artistic Fella) won his fourth Open Pace of the year on Saturday (July 3) night at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The Jackie Rousse-trained 4-year-old not only set a lifetime mark but also paced the fastest mile of the year thus far at the Spa when he stopped the timer in 1:51. Frank Coppola Jr. pointed Artful Way out to the early lead in a sizzling :26.3 before yielding to rival JK Panache (Wally Hennessey) past the quarter. JK Panache flew through a half in 5:4.1 and three-quarters 1:22.1 and still had something left in the stretch. Artful Way tracked him down in the final strides to record the mild upset at odds of 6-1. JK Panache held second while Caution Signs (Bruce Aldrich Jr.) earned the show spot. Artful Way, who won ten times in 25 starts last year en route to over $100,000 in earnings, is on almost that exact pace again in 2016 as he now owns five wins and more than $50,000 in his first thirteen starts of the season. The winner returned $15.80 while the race’s exacta and triple paid $60.50 and $380, respectively. Live racing takes place on Sunday (July 3) and Monday (July 4) afternoons with matinees beginning at 12:15pm.

Running Aces

The Saturday (July 2) night harness racing card at Running Aces featured the $11,000 open trot, and Banker Volo posted his fourth consecutive win at the facility, breaking the track record for older stallions in the process. Nick Roland sent him away sharply from post five in the six-horse contest, and he never looked back, posting fractions of :27.0, :56.1 and 1:25.4 en route to a new track mark of 1:55.3. He is a 7-year-old by Yankee Glide, owned by Daniel and Jeralene Roland, trained and driven by Nick Roland and now has lifetime earnings of $252,083. Another sharp trotting performance on Saturday (July 2), was the 5-year-old gelding Lo Rail Crossing (by Rail Splitter) who posted his 21st lifetime win while taking a new lifetime mark of 1:58. This shaved nearly two seconds off his previous best winning time and trainer/driver Nick Roland iwas n the bike. He now sports a lifetime bankroll of $81,346 for owner Lorenza Gooch. HoldingAllTheCards posted a gate-to-wire score in 1:52.3 in the $6,000 upper-level conditioned pace with Dean Magee in the sulky. It was the second win in a row for this impressive 7-year-old gelding by Cam’s Card Shark, who now shows a career tally of 31 wins and $338,317. He is owned by William and Richard Mc Intyre and trained by David Ginter. Luke Plano posted a hat-trick on the program, while Nick Roland and Dean Magee scored driving doubles. The next card of live harness racing at Running Aces Casino and Racetrack will go to post on Sunday (July 3) at 6:00 pm CDT.