by harness racing publicists across North America

The Saturday (July 23) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Buffalo Raceway, Tioga Downs, Vernon Downs, Pocono, Kawartha Downs and Running Aces.

Instant Thrill smokes the field at Buffalo Raceway

Hamburg, NY — Instant Thrill was the point leader in his Claiming Championship Series category ($12,500-$15,000 horse and gelding pacers) and he showed that wasn’t a fluke by smoking the field in the $15,600 finale at Buffalo Raceway on a steamy Saturday (July 23) night.

Putting up a seasonal best time of 1:54.0, Instant Thrill (Michael Whelan) romped to an 6-3/4 length victory over Keeping Optimistic (David McNeight III) in wire-to-wire fashion and returned a surprising $14.00 for the win.

Using blistering splits of :27.4, :56.2 and 1:25.1, Instant Thrill was up by eight lengths at the top of the stretch as the field was waving the white flag in surrender by then.

Owned by Paul and Ronald Louis Viele and trained by Alex Giuliani, it was his sixth win in 21 starts for Instant Thrill, now a winner of $33,660 this season and $159,187 lifetime.

In the $8,000-$10,000 category of the horse and gelding pacers, Zipnthruthehall (McNeight III) battled with Enzo Seelster (Shawn McDonough) through the stretch before pulling away for a 1-1/2 length decision in a seasonal best 1:56.0 to win the lion’s share of the $14,000 purse.

Donegal Jim (Drew Monti) got the perfect pocket trip and rallied in the passing lane to capture the $10,800 event for the $5,000-$7000 colt and gelding pacers. Donegal Jim ($8.40) covered the mile in 1:57.0.

K C Colt sprung a $16.00 upset in the $10,000 battle for the $4,000 horse and gelding pacers with a 1:57.1 time for driver Mickey Holliday.

Socialdelight (Kevin Cummings) was able to nose out a stubborn Im The Cash Man (Drew Monti) to take the title in the $8,000-$12,500 trotting bracket. Socialdelight ($5.10) covered the mile in 1:59.2 to win the $14,800 race.

Herbie Is Gone ($3.40) was long gone in the $10,000 race for $4,000-$5,500 trotters with an easy 1-1/2 length decision over stablemate Terracina AS (Todd Cummings). Herbie Is Gone (Ray Fisher Jr.) toured the Hamburg half-mile oval in 2:00.4.

McNeight III had a driving triple on the evening with Whelan notching a double. Trainer Alex Giuliani conditioned a pair of winners.

Buffalo Raceway will close the 2016 campaign on Sunday (July 24) afternoon with first post at 12:30 p.m. It will be Customer Appreciation Day with free programs, drawings for concert and Erie County Fair tickets along with free snow cones and cotton candy for the kids.

For more information on Buffalo Raceway including the latest news, upcoming promotions, simulcast schedule, race replays and results. go to www.buffaloraceway.com.

— by Brian Mazurek

Tioga Downs

Prairie Fortune ($4.90) mounted a bold three-wide push on the backstretch to circle his six rivals in Saturday (July 23) evening’s $11,000 Open Handicap Trot at Tioga Downs, dueling late with the first-over Rossini for his third Open-level win in four starts. Jim Meittinis took the 4-year-old Arapa Victory gelding to last early on, letting DC Flashback (John Cummings, Jr.) and Dragin the Wagon (Corey Braden) alternate on the lead through early splits of :27.1 and :57.2. As Rossini (Scott Coulter) mounted a bold first-over push into Dragin the Wagon on approach to the backstretch, Prairie Fortune slid third-over before commencing his strong three-wide bid with three-eighths to go. The now 20-time winner worked into the lead midway on the far turn-but he wasn’t home free. Off the corner, Rossini battled back between horses once headed, leading briefly in mid-stretch. Prairie Fortune ultimately reclaimed command in the final yards, besting Rossini by a neck in 1:54.2. Dragin the Wagon was a worn-down third. Trainer Mike Deters co-owns Prairie Fortune with breeder Laurie Poulin. Fresh off his Friday grand slam, Mike Merton once again led all drivers for the evening, capturing three of the night’s 10 races. Live racing returns to Tioga with an 11-race card on Sunday (July 24); post time is 1:30 p.m. Eastern. As no one hit tonight’s 50-cent Pick-5, $243.60 will carry over into Sunday’s Pick-5 pool.

Vernon Downs

Parkhill Horton ($24.60) took full advantage of a clear pocket trip in Saturday’s (July 23) $7,500 top-level Miracle Mile Trot at Vernon Downs, upsetting odds-on pacesetter Lucid Thoughts in 1:54.4. Truman Gale secured the pocket from the outset with the 8-year-old Oaklea Julian gelding, yielding to Lucid Thoughts (John MacDonald) and drafting cozily through splits of :27.3, :56.4, and 1:25.3. Just above the eighth pole, Parkhill Horton vacated the pegs, reeled in Lucid Thoughts, and edged away to a 1-1/2 length victory while driven. Lucid Thoughts held second, while Winding Hill (Jimmy Whittemore) sustained a mild bid off the far turn to capture third. Trainer Robert Gale co-owns Parkhill Horton with Jeffrey Agan and David Adsit. The “New York Night Train” also took the evening’s sub-featured $5,500 Miracle Mile trotting event in upset fashion with 15-1 longshot Painite ($33.60). Jocelyn Gale-Truman’s wife-handles the training duties of the 7-year-old Plesac mare, who rallied down the grandstand side off a third-over trip to just collar 8-5 favorite Gaelic and Garlic (Claude Huckabone, III) in 1:55.1. A 14-race Sunday (July 24) evening card completes the racing week at Vernon Downs, with the Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial for 3-year-old trotters sharing center stage with the New York Sire Stakes for 3-year-old pacing fillies. Post time is slated for 6:45 p.m. Eastern.

Pocono Downs

On Saturday (July 23) night at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Anthony Napolitano returned to nighttime sulky action for the first time since a racing accident here on May 31, and there were no signs of rust visible on his driving skills. In fact, in races three through ten at The Downs Saturday, if your last name wasn’t “Napolitano” you did not gain admittance to the winner’s circle, as big brother George won five of the octet of contests, and Anthony triumphed in the other three. The last in this string of Napolitano victories went to George, again the winningest driver at the mountain oval, and the Rocknroll Hanover gelding Bushwacker in the $18,000 pacing feature, setting the pace and coming home with a pair of :27.2 back quarters to win in 1:50. Life wasn’t easy in the stretch for the 1-2 favorite, however, as Dreams Beachboy and “Ant’ny Nap” made a charge up the Pocono Pike, but came up a half-length short to the Chris Ryder trainee, who boosted his earnings to the very brink of half-million-dollar status-$499,587-for owner Henderson Farms. Anthony got revenge on George, and added a fourth winner on the night, by taking the $15,500 featured trot with Armor Hanover, an altered 7-year-old son of SJ’s Caviar who won in 1:52 which was a new mark but also equaled the national season’s record. George set the pace with Cufflink Hanover, the favorite and a 3-year-old taking on older stock, but “Armor” and Anthony blew right past them down the backstretch and went on to win by six lengths, with Valley Of Sin edging Cufflink Hanover for the deuce. Trainer Doug Berkeley has apparently found the key to the winner of two straight, who had made breaks in three of four starts before his current modest win string, and Doug shares ownership with Leslie Berkeley. It looked as if the 1:48.4 posted by Soho in the first race, a $15,500 pace, would stand as the quickest mile of the night, but then in the twelfth race Andrew McCarthy, who swept the early Daily Double, then guided the Always A Virgin gelding Vague Traces to a scintillating win in 1:48.2, a new mark and not a bad mile for a horse who came east to be under Ross Croghan’s care five starts back and started out in “nw $3000 L5.” But the potential has always been there for Vague Traces–he won his first baby qualifier in 1:55.2, as year-older stablemate He’s Watching looked on and nodded approvingly, and then last year at three he twice finished third behind two other Indiana-sired horses of some renown, Wiggle It Jiggleit and Freaky Feet Pete, as they traded late-season wins at Hoosier. Off this mile, with Vague Traces coming his own back half in :52.3, coverless brush to the lead included, and winning by 7-3/4 lengths, the Phil Wiley-owned warrior might develop into a horse not out of place in this year’s magnificent FFA crop, headed by the two aforenamed Hoosier horses–and the one who was a year ahead of them, “Miki” something or other. What happened in that $14,000 trot? We kid you not-the brothers Napolitano finished in a dead-heat for the win, giving George six wins on the night and Anthony five. The camera was called on but could not separate George’s favored Zooming and Anthony’s second choice Upfront Billy, who crossed the aperture of light together in 1:53.3, coming within 3/5 of a second of the world record for a “heater” on a five-eighth mile track and obliterating the old trot dead-heat mark at the only oval to have three triple dead-heats for wins in harness racing history.

Kawartha Downs

Cape Cod made her first lifetime start tonight at Kawartha Downs and it was a winning effort as the 3-year-old daughter gave Nick Boyd a 1:58.4 ride to win the second race in front of a large crowd on Saturday (July 23) on a warm summer night. The filly is trained by James ‘Friday’ Dean who also trained her sire, Big Jim, a winner of $1.5 million during his racing career. Big Jim was owned by James Carr, a charismatic Standardbred owner who passed away two years ago after a battle with cancer. His widow Darlene has kept up the family’s love of harness racing and owns Cape Cod. “She was bought at Harrisburg as a yearling. She was a Big Jim from an Artsplace mare, you have to like that,” explained Friday. “She has a heart of gold. We’ll be back with her next Saturday night if she gets in.” “She’s got a lot of heart,” Boyd agreed. “It’s nice to win one for the connections.” Also tonight at the Fraserville oval, Ken Kan Win recorded his third straight victory, cruising to a five-length score for Gord Brown in 1:57.1. Shaun Moscrop owns the 6-year-old gelding by Ken Warkentin. Racing returns to Kawartha Downs next Saturday (July 30) night for a special 44th anniversary celebration. Post time is 7 p.m.

Running Aces

The $12,000 Open Handicap Trot was the featured event on the Saturday (July 23) night harness racing card at Running Aces, and the very sharp 6 year old gelding Flameon (by Angus Hall) picked up his eigth win of the year in just his 13th start, by posting a dominant performance in the contest. It was a three-wide early battle for the lead, and Flameon with driver Dean Magee charged through the middle of two rivals to take command of the field just before the :28.0 quarter mile. He then benefitted from a :30.0 second stanza and led through the rest of the fractions of :58.0 and 1:26.4 before trotting home in :29.1 to secure the win over a hard charging pocket-sitter Big Expense (Mooney Svendsen). Longshot Where’s The Clicker (Brian Detgen) was third in the 1:56.0 mile. Flameon is owned and trained by Mark Anderson, and now sports a 2016 bankroll of $39,310. He paid $10.60 at the windows. In the $6,000 Minnesota-sired B Pace, Cyrax (by Intrepid Seelster) with Brian Detgen in the sulky posted another impressive win, lowering his lifetime mark to 1:54.3 this evening with a 2-3/4 length tally, his sixth lifetime win in eight lifetime starts for owner James Springer and trainer Robert Lems. He paid $2.60 as the heavy race favorite. The $9,000 class A split went to Stuckey Dote (by Voracious Hanover) with driver Jim Marino for two in a row. He also lowered his lifetime best tonight with his two length score in 1:55. It was the ninth lifetime win in 13 career starts for Stuckey Dote, who is owned and trained by Merlin Van Oterloo. In a $6,000 conditioned trot, the 3-year-old filly My Little Susie (by Claudius Augustus) posted her 14th lifetime win, and 11th of the season with trainer/driver Steve Wiseman in the bike. She just held off last year’s 3-year-old Minnesota Champion filly Becky Badger Baby (Nick Roland) in a 1:57 lifetime best mile. She paid $3.60 and is owned by A Piece of The Action, LLC. Driver Nick Roland posted a hat trick on the card, while Luke Plano and Dean Magee both had driving doubles. The next card of live harness racing will go to post on Sunday (July 24) with a post time of 6:00 p.m. Central. Running Aces will be adding Wednesday live racing starting this coming Wednesday (July 27.)