from harness publicists across North America

Friday’s (May 1) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Buffalo Raceway, Saratoga Casino and Raceway, Vernon Downs and Harrah’s Philadelphia.

Kevin Cummings wins five at Buffalo

Hamburg, NY — On the eve of the Kentucky Derby, driver Kevin Cummings showed he was up for any challenge by winning five races on the Friday night program at Buffalo Raceway.

Cummings started the night off with a very nice victory in the opener with the 13-year-old Haste. He took back early in the mile to set the pocket and then came closing home late to win in 2:00.1.

His biggest winner of the night was aboard Terracina As (Allstar Hall-Madeleine It). She made her move going towards the quarter and got caught outside going up the backstretch the last time. When turning for home she looked like a beaten race horse, but was able to power past R A’s Shakenbake (Ron Beback Jr.) late to win by a length.

Cummings also won with Instant Thrill ($7.30), Dry Ice ($2.90) and Sir Altb Z Tam ($2.50).

Join Buffalo Raceway for Western New York’s biggest Kentucky Derby Party beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Live racing at the Hamburg oval on Saturday is at 6:35 p.m.

— Michael Carter

Saratoga Casino and Raceway
There were three series finals that took place on Friday night at Saratoga Casino and Raceway for young horses who have competed over the last few weeks for their spot in the $25,000-plus finals. Starznheaven (Rock N Roll Heaven) was named Saratoga’s top 2-year-old pacer last year and has now started out his sophomore campaign on a three-race win streak. The Jackie Rousse-trained pacer recorded a wire-to-wire victory in a career best 1:54.3 in the JP Morel Memorial Pacing Series final as the race’s 3-5 betting favorite. Frank Coppola Jr. piloted Starznheaven to his early season hat trick. Coppola also piloted the winner of the John Mongeon Sr. Memorial Trot final as Quick Feet (Crazed) went coast-to-coast in a lifetime best performance of his own. The Margaret Spagnola trainee cruised in 1:59 as the race’s favorite at odds of 9-5. The Virginia O’Brien Memorial final was won by longshot Karla Art (Major In Art). Brian Cross co-owns, trains and drives the 3-year-old filly who took advantage of an early speed duel before circling her rivals to prevail in a career best 1:58.3. Karla Art returned $71.00 to win as a 34-1 longshot. Live racing continues on Saturday evening at Saratoga with first post time set for 7:05 p.m.

Vernon Downs
Vernon Downs hosted a pair of $10,000 Open events on their Friday night 13-race card, with distaff pacer Purity ($6.00) and trotter A Penny Earned ($3.60) taking top honors for the night. Five pacing mares contested the $10,000 Mares Open Pace in race two, with two of the five entering off wins in their most recent outings. Those two — Purity (Claude Huckabone III) and Seascape Hanover (Jimmy Whittemore) ultimately squared off on the far turn, well after Purity was used hard in establishing the lead through a :54.3 half. With three-eighths to go, Whittemore moved 3-5 favorite Seascape Hanover first-over out of third, sustaining an extended press but proving unable to collar Purity through the stretch. The 4-year-old Always A Virgin mare prevailed by three-quarters of a length in 1:52 over Seascape Hanover, while Kardashian (Truman Gale) stayed on for third after pressing the pace early. Kevin Hough trains Purity for owner Michael Casalino Jr. While the favorite could not quite prevail in the Mares Open Pace, the $10,000 Open Trot saw A Penny Earned (Chris Lems) wear down Lutetium (Jimmy Whittemore) for a scant 1:54 victory in the evening’s eighth race. A Penny Earned secured the pocket early, outsprinted by Lutetium through a :26.3 initial quarter. Lutetium would race uncontested through an easy :58.4 middle half, but found himself bracing for the oncoming threat of A Penny Earned at the top of the stretch — and the threat of Big Chocolate (Homer Hochstetler), who drafted behind the top pair throughout before fanning three-wide off the far turn. Battling gamely through the stretch, A Penny Earned took the lead from Lutetium 70 yards from the winning post, subsequently withstanding a stand-side charge from Big Chocolate, who missed by a scant neck. Winning trainer George Ducharme co-owns the 6-year-old Conway Hall gelding with Alfred Ross, Paul Fontaine and Nicola Oliva. In addition to the evening’s pair of Open events, four $4,000 divisions of the second round of the Catherine Burton trotting series were held. Only Hollywood Jess ($5.50, Chris Lems) swept her preliminary legs, battling stoutly with Write That Down (Fern Paquet Jr.) through quite literally every step of a 1:57 mile before holding clear of a late-closing Azucar (Gaetan Brunet). Blue Skies Craze ($18.40, Truman Gale, 1:56.2), Tango Pirate ($15.20, Gale, 1:57.1), and Act Of Valor ($3.30, Claude Huckabone III, 1:58.4) also were triumphant in their splits. Live racing returns to Vernon Downs on Saturday, with first post slated for 5:10 p.m.

Harrah’s Philadelphia
Chris White’s Fashion Showdown picked up her second straight win in the featured event on Friday at Harrah’s Philadelphia. It was a pace for upper-level conditioned filly and mares going for a purse of $22,000. The 5-year-old daughter of Village Jolt immediately went for the lead and was able to set comfortable fractions early on. The Monteleone Stable’s Regil Elektra (Brett Miller), who was making her season’s debut after a solid 2014 campaign, was able to maintain a pocket presence the entire mile. Race favorite Gallie Bythe Beach (Tim Tetrick) was making her second start of the season, after banking nearly $200,000 in her 3-year-old campaign. Her effort today was similar to last week’s as she was able to make only minor first over headway. She tailed off to finish fifth. Fashion Showdown (Corey Callahan) was able to hold off the mild stretch bid of Regil Elektra to win by a little over a length, stopping the clock in 1:51, which was a season’s best. She now has eight wins on the year and 11 overall out of 27 career starts. The Craig McInnis trainee returned $6.40 to win.