by harness racing publicists across North America
The Saturday (Aug. 25) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Saratoga Casino Hotel, Vernon Downs, Tioga Downs, The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono and Running Aces.

Hug The Wind N wins Saratoga feature

Saratoga, N.Y. — Hug The Wind N (Bettor’s Delight) made his local debut on Saturday night (Aug. 25) at Saratoga Casino Hotel while competing in the evening’s feature. The Rich Banca trainee started from post position four in the eight horse Open Pace with driver Jay Randall in the sulky.

MIkayla Gray photo

Hug The Wind N captures his Saratoga debut on Saturday evening.

The action came fast and furious in the $14,500 feature as rivals slugged it out early to the tune of first-half fractions of :26.1 and :54 seconds. All the while, closers like Hug The Wind N waited patiently and when Randall gave the 7-year-old the cue, the response was instant. Maxdaddy Bluechip (Billy Dobson) was also coming from the back of the pack in the Open when he surged up three-wide.

It appeared it would be that one who would swoop the group but Hug The Wind N shifted gears and breezed by that Maxdaddy Bluechip and a host of others in the stretch before coming on to win in 1:51.3. Maxdaddy Bluechip finished second while Americanprimetime (Phil Fluet) earned the show spot.

For Hug The Wind N, who went winless in 2017, it was victory number four on the season and his first at Saratoga. The invader paid $14.00 to win in the mild upset and led an exacta and triple that came back $236.50 and $1,886, respectively.

With the earnings from the Open score, Hug The Wind N moved his career bankroll to just shy of the $400,000 mark.

Live racing resumes on Tuesday night at Saratoga with a first post time set for 7:05 p.m.

— by Mike Sardella

Vernon Downs

Golden Gun (Josh Kinney) holds off late charge by Jds Brent N Sheree to capture the featured pace ($6,500) at Vernon Downs on Saturday (Aug. 25). Golden Gun ($82.00) went straight to the front controlling all the fractions (:27.0, :55.3, 1:23.3, 1:51.1). Jds Brent N Sheree followed the whole way until they reached the top of the stretch. The two would trade blows all the way down the stretch. Oh My Joepa (John MacDonald) went three-wide to join the pair in deep stretch. When it looked like Jds Brent N Sheree would go by, Golden Gun dug down deep and found something extra to win by a nose at the line. Jds Brent N Sheree settled for second with Oh My Joepa getting third money. Golden Gun is owned by The Wiz Kids Stables and trained by Jeff Sorenson. He is an 8-year-old gelding by Headmaster. It was his third win in 2018. He now owns 27 career victories. Jimmy Whittemore drove two winners on the night. He got his wins with Major Starlight ($2.50) and Release The Terror ($3.70). He still has the most driving wins on the season. After Saturday’s racing he now leads all drivers with 77 wins. Three-time defending driving wins champion John MacDonald is second with 67 wins. Claude Huckabone III is third with 36 wins. Truman Gale is in fourth 35 tallies. Leon Bailey rounds out the top five with 31 wins. MacDonald and Whittemore are also battling for the training wins title as well. MacDonald is in first with 35 wins with Whittemore second best getting 30 victories so far. Homer Hochstetler is third on the list with 24 wins. Misty Carey is fourth best with 22 tallies. Dan Daley has the fifth spot with 20 wins. Vernon Downs returns to live racing with two divisions of the New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) for 2-year-old trotting colts and geldings. Post time for the nine race card is 6:10 p.m. For more information go to www.vernondowns.com.

Tioga Downs

BJ Lorado ($6.00) hit the first quarter in 27 and then was first to the halfway marker in :57.3. Trained by Marc Major for owners Michael and Diane Norcross, he let loose in the backstretch leading by four lengths as he hit three quarters in 1:25.2. He would cross the finish line in 1:55.2 Cashahallic (Corey Braden) would chase the whole way to finish second. Zaraze (Bruce Clarke) would be third best. BJ Lorado is a 4-year-old gelding by Bo W. He won for the second straight time and seventh time this season. He captured his 11th career victory. Mike Merton had three driving wins on the night. He won with Vicki All ($6.40), Tropical Trice ($3.60) and Hurricane Howard ($11.20). Trainers Gary Messenger and Mike Deters continue to battle it out for the Trainers win title. Messenger currently leads with 33 wins so far this meet. Deters is two behind with 31 trips to the winner’s circle. Joe Skowyra is third with 17 wins. Patti Harmon is in fourth with 17 tallies. Marc Major is fifth with 15 wins. It is Corntastic weekend at Tioga. Bill Stepanosky won the popular corn eating contest. Tioga Downs returns to live racing on Sunday (Aug. 26) featuring W.N. Memorial Reynold for both freshman pacers and trotters. Post time for the 12-race card is 1 p.m. For more information go to www.tiogadowns.com.

The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono

The in-form duo of pacer Ideal Kiss and driver George Napolitano Jr. combined to take the $20,000 claiming handicap pacing feature on Saturday night at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. Napolitano sent the altered son of American Ideal to the top well before the :27 quarter, then got a big breather while reaching the half in 56.3. From there the sprint was on, and nobody had enough sprint to catch Ideal Kiss. He went the third quarter in :27.1, and then followed up with a :27.2 kicker to complete the 1:51.1 mile two lengths ahead of Skyful Of Lighters. Ideal Kiss has now won three of his last four while rising from a price tag of $15,000 to $30,000. The latter price is what trainer Hunter Oakes claimed him for out of his last start, and the career winner of $145,630 has already earned back a third of his purchase price for the Northfork Racing Stable. As for meet-leading driver Napolitano, the victory was the sixth of the night, and he would end the evening with seven trips to Victory Lane, after winning four at Harrah’s Philadelphia yesterday afternoon. In the $17,500 co-featured pace, George’s brother Anthony Napolitano was victorious with the Rock N Roll Heaven gelding Rodeo Rock in 1:50.3. Anthony brushed with the winner of $296,720 in front of the stands and stepped to the lead, and Rodeo Rock has enough to withstand Soho Wallstreet A by a length for his second straight triumph. Robert Cleary conditions the winner for Royal Wire Products Inc. The final preliminary in the popular summer-long Great Northeast Open Series will be held at Pocono on Sunday night, with open trotters going after a $30,000 purse. The two early favorites are double world champion Homicide Hunter and Smalltownthrowdown, who posted a 1:51.1 victory the last time the two collided. Pocono will host $100,000 finals at 1-1/4 miles for all the Great Northeast Open Series classes on Sunday, Sept. 2, on a $1.5 million card that will also feature the finals of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for 3-year-olds.

Running Aces

The featured harness racing event on Saturday night (Aug. 25) at Running Aces was the $20,000 Minnesota Sired or Owned Preferred Pace, and local fan favorite Firedrake stole the show with a furious charge to the wire to capture his fifth win of the season and secure his second Running Aces major event victory. Stuckey Dote (Rick Magee) was the slight betting choice from post seven and fired right out of the gate to engage Firedrake (Brian Detgen) for the lead. Firedrake had plenty of early speed from post one, but yielded for the pocket trip and Stuckey Dote settled on top after a :26.2 opening stanza. Bestinthebusiness (James Yoder) was attacking first-over past the :55.1 half mile, with Cantholdmebackmack (Ryan Anderson) launching from the second over position to sweep three-wide down the backside. Stuckey Dote was holding sway past the 1:23.3 clocking at three-quarters, but Firedrake was right there in the pocket and Whatchastarinat (Lemoyne Svendsen) was now a new three-wide challenger as they turned for home. Firedrake powered through the inside lane in deep stretch to claim victory over the field, with Stuckey Dote holding second over Whatchastarinat and Bestinthebusiness. The final winning margin was three-quarters of a length in a 1:52 mile for Firedrake ($6.20) establishing a new seasonal mark. The always impressive 5-year-old son of Dragon Again now sports 23 career wins and has boosted his seasonal earnings to $67,370 for owners Set The Pace Racing, LLC and trainer Nick Roland. Getter Queen Flush pulled a mild upset over Place At The Beach in the $9,000 Mares Claiming Handicap pace, with a gradual advancing move from the back of the pack, driver James Yoder was able to take aim at the leader and race favorite Place At The Beach (Dean Magee) near mid-stretch and powered by for a half-length tally in 1:54.3. For Getter Queen Flush ($13.00) it was her seventh triumph of the season in 32 starts, and pushed her 2018 bankroll to $33,348 for owner/trainer George Reider along with Richard Thomas and Theresa Paul. The 20-cent Jackpot Pick-5 wager now has a carryover of $24,334.50 for Sunday night (Aug. 26) with first post at 6 pm CDT.