from harness publicists across North America
The Friday (Aug. 31) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Batavia Downs, Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs.
Icanflylikeanangel soars in Batavia feature
Batavia, NY — In four starts in the top trot class this year at the oldest lighted harness track in America, Icanflylikeanangel has not been worse than second. That trend continued on Friday night (Aug. 31) when he won the $10,000 Open Handicap Trot at Batavia Downs.
Empire Earl N (Billy Davis Jr.) left hurriedly to grab the lead immediately off the gate. The remainder of the field hit the pylons behind him allowing a tepid first quarter split of :29.2 to occur. But things changed quickly as Southern Palms (Kevin Cummings) pulled first up at the three-eighths bringing Icanflylikeanangel (Drew Monti) in tow.
Southern Palms drew even with Empire Earl N in the third turn and the two trotters tangled to the three-quarters just whiskers apart. That battle continued around the final bend but Icanflylikeanangel, who had been shadowing the leaders, was loaded with trot and tipped three-deep and head-long into the fray. With three horses now strung across the track, Monti asked for more from Icanflylikeanangel and more is what he got. Icanflylikeanangel dug in and gained the advantage by mid-stretch, winning by a neck in 1:58.1.
Icanflylikeanangel ($2.70) registered his sixth win of the season and bulked his bankroll to $58,795 for owner Joseph Hess. D. Benny Eggers conditions the winner.
In the $8,000 Open II, Bold Dresser (Shawn McDonough) pulled off an instant replay of his win last week, going gate-to-wire cutting fractions of :28.4, :59.2 and 1:28.1 before trotting away down the lane under no duress in 1:58.2. It was the fourth win of the year for Bold Dresser ($5.50) who is owned by Harry Wortzman. His driver McDonough also does the training.
Drew Monti had the hot hand driving Friday, winning four races on the card. Besides taking the feature with Icanflylikeanangel, Monti also won with Gimme The Pacifics (1:57, $2.80), Golden Kronos (1:59.3, $3.20) and Barn Sis (1:58, $3.50). Monti now with 38 wins for the meet, is only one win behind Kevin Cummings (39) for first place in the dash driving competition.
There was no winner in the early Pick-5 wager on Friday night so there is a carryover pool of $496 for Saturday. As a result, Batavia Downs is offering a guaranteed pool of $1,500 for the early Pick-5 on Saturday (Sept. 1) when live racing resumes at 6 p.m. The early Pick-5 runs from race one to race five.
— Tim Bojarski
Tioga Downs
Truth And Liberty (Mike Simons) charged late to win the $11,000 featured fillies and mares pace on Friday. Coveredndiamonds N (Mike Merton) put up all the early fractions (:26.3, :56.2, and 1:23.4). Truth And Liberty ($4.30), who is owned by Fairy Horsemother Stables and trained by Simons, was fifth at the halfway point. Second best at three-quarters, she flew down the stretch and held off a late rush by second place finisher Gina Grace N (Larry Stalbaum) to win in 1:52.2. K J’s Caroline (Jim Taggart Jr.) was third best. Truth And Liberty is a 6-year-old mare by Total Truth. It was her fifth win this season and career victory number 33. Mike Simons had a driving double on the night. His other win came with Talkoholic ($9.10). The drivers win title is still up for grabs for 2018. Mike Merton has a slight lead with 54 wins. Jimmy Taggart Jr. is second best with 53 wins. Aaron Byron is tied with Jim Meittinis for third with 51 wins each. Andy Santeramo is fifth with 46 times to the winner’s circle. The top drivers win title has been nip and tuck the whole season. Each of the top four drivers have had the lead at one point over the last two weeks. For more information go to www.tiogadowns.com.
Vernon Downs
Ms Cheesman (Howard Okusko Jr.) won the featured $6,500 fillies and mares pace on Friday. Angel Speak (Claude Huckabone III) went to the front and led to a first quarter of :26.3 and then to a half of :56. Ms Cheesman ($7.70) followed in the pocket. Owned by Bay Pond Racing and trained by Jessica Okusko, she popped out of the pocket just before they hit three-quarters in 1:25.1. She took over and just cruised down the stretch to win in 1:53. Love Live Laugh (Jimmy Whittemore) came up to finish second. Jaclyn Hanover (John MacDonald) got third money. Ms Cheesman is a 3-year-old filly by Betterthancheddar. It was her fifth win this season and career victory number six. The veteran Jay Sears won another at Vernon Downs. In 10 drives this season, Sears has four wins and one second. For anyone that is a great record. What is amazing is that Sears is 76 years old. The lovable driver is racing like he is a youngster. He guided Star Flyer ($10.60) to a gate-to-wire victory in a lifetime best of 1:58.1. Star Flyer is a 4-year-old mare by Cantab Hall. She is co-owned by Sears with David Fishman and is trained by Ray Van Dreason. It was her fourth win in 11 starts this season. It was career victory number five. How can you not root for Sears? If you love harness racing all you can do is smile. Vernon Downs returns to live racing on Saturday (Sept. 1) with a 10-race card starting at 6:10 p.m. For more information go to www.vernondowns.com.