from harness publicists across North America

Friday’s (May 6) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Buffalo Raceway and Vernon Downs.

Lutetium, Cummings reunite for Buffalo Raceway win

Hamburg, NY — Lutetium and driver Kevin Cummings got back together after nearly a four month separation and they celebrated their reunion with an easy two length victory Friday night in Buffalo Raceway’s $10,000 Open Trot.

Steve Roth photo

Lutetium returned to his winning ways with driver Kevin Cummings.

Lutetium sorely missed the services of Cummings who was out of commission with a broken arm since Jan. 30. While Cummings was sidelined, the front-running Lutetium found the winner’s circle just once, that coming back on Feb. 19 when Truman Gale guided the 9-year-old gelding to the victory.

But with Cummings back in the sulky and rival B Z Glide in the field, Lutetium was ready to regain his old form.

Taking off when the starting gate swung open, Lutetium took no prisoners in setting fractions of :28.4, :58.4 and 1:28. While stalling out in recent races, there was no dropping anchor in the stretch this time with Cummings on board. Lutetium confidently trotted home and put up a seasonal best 1:57.4. Strong Hope (Ray Fisher Jr.) took second place and B Z Glide (Mike Caprio) was third.

Owned by Colleen Girdlestone and trained by Mark Laidlaw, it was the third win of the season for Lutetium (Credit Winner-Luby). He has now put $26,360 in the bank this season and $382,977 lifetime.

Todd Cummings, Kevin Cummings and Jim Morrill Jr. each completed the night with a pair of victories in the bike.

Racing will resume at 7 p.m. on Saturday night with a 13-race card scheduled. The night will feature the $10,000 Open Pace along with five finals of the Championship Claiming Series. The Pick-5, which starts in the fifth race, has a carryover of $959. For more information, including the latest news, upcoming promotions, race replays and results, go to www.buffaloraceway.com.

— Brian Mazurek

Vernon Downs
Perched perfectly from second-over on the far turn, Pocono invader Shutthefrontdoor ($4.70) vaulted clear in mid-stretch to take Friday night’s $8,000 Mares Open Pace at Vernon Downs. The 5-year-old Well Said mare settled well off the pace from the outset, allowing Looney Dune (Billy Davis Jr.) to establish solid early sectionals of :26.4 and :55.3 before working closer through the far turn. Shutthefrontdoor ended up second-over through a 1:24.2 three-quarter split when Little Santamonica (Frank Davis) vacated the pocket to head Looney Dune off the corner. Despite striking the front strongly at head-stretch, Little Santamonica ultimately gave way to Shutthefrontdoor, who drew off by 2-1/2 lengths in 1:51.3 over good going. Little Santamonica was a clear second, 2-1/2 lengths in advance of third-place finisher Keene Olivia (Chris Lems). Trainer Mike Sinclair co-owns Shutthefrontdoor with Guy Beaulieu and Richard Villeneuve. Chris Lems led all drivers with four wins on the night, teaming up with Grizzly Mama ($2.40, 1:57), Wings Of Royalty ($3.70, 1:55), Hello I’m Johnny ($5.90, 1:58.2) and Gelato Man ($16.80, 1:57.2). Lems’s 11 wins on the young season bring him to within one win of leading driver John MacDonald, who was blanked on the 10-race card.