by harness racing publicisits across North America

The Saturday (July 7) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Vernon Downs, Saratoga Casino Hotel, Tioga Downs and Running Aces.

Major Leaguer wins at Vernon Downs

Vernon, NY — Major Leaguer (Jimmy Whittemore) won the Vernon Downs Open Pace ($8,000) on Saturday night (July 7).

Fotowon photo

Major Leaguer captured the Open Pace at Vernon Downs on Saturday.

Major Leaguer ($3.00) took the lead just before hitting the first quarter in 26.3. Owned and trained by Whittemore, he would easily lead to the half in :55.3 and hit the three-quarter mark in 1:23.3. Redhot Romeo (Claude Huckabone III) went first-over and battled him the whole length of the stretch. Then big long-shot Gypsy Leather (Claude Huckabone Jr.) fired late but fell short to the gutsy Major Leaguer, who finished the mile in 1:51.3. Gypsy Leather settled for second money. Redhot Romeo finished third.

Major Leaguer is a 4-year-old gelding by Art Major. It was his fourth win of the season and his 20th career victory. Whittemore added two more driving wins to his total on the night. His other wins came with Royal Garden N ($4.80) and Skip Jive ($10.40).

Leon Bailey and John MacDonald each had driving doubles.

Bailey won with Alway Flash-N ($4.50) and Fuzzylegsandall ($7.40). MacDonald went to the winner’s circle with Northern Express ($7.10) and Northeaster ($4.00).

Live racing returns to Vernon Downs on Thursday (July12) at 6:10 p.m. The 10-race card features three divisions of the New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) for 3-year-old pacing fillies.

For more information go to www.vernondowns.com.

— by John Horne

Saratoga Casino Hotel

Maxdaddy Blue Chip (Sportswriter) had raced twice in the Open Pace at Saratoga Casino Hotel this spring before the Rene Allard trainee went to Pennsylvania to compete for a couple of months. The 6-year-old pacer returned to the Spa on Saturday night with an Open win and a second place finish to his credit from his starts in May. Maxdaddy Blue Chip made his return to town a winning one as the 1-5 betting favorite in the $14,500 Saturday feature. Reinsman Billy Dobson moved Maxdaddy Blue Chip out to the early lead and together they enjoyed a very comfortable first lap that was paced in :56.2. The favorite never faced a legitimate challenge and lengthened his lead seemingly with every stride before pacing away from his rivals to prevail in 1:51.3 on a beautiful summer night in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Deetzy (Jimmy Devaux), who parlayed his pocket ride to victory in last week’s Open, again got the two-hole trip on Saturday night, but had to settle for a strong second place finish. Longshot Tullow N (Bruce Aldrich Jr.) earned the show spot. Maxdaddy Blue Chip, who won fifteen times in 2017, prevailed for the third time in 2018. The meet’s leading driver, Dobson piloted three winners on the Saturday card. Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon with a matinee beginning at 12:15 p.m.

Tioga Downs

Uncle Hanover (Andy Santeramo) won the Tioga Downs featured pace ($9,000) on Saturday (July 7). Uncle Hanover ($11.80) led the field gate-to-wire (:28.2, :57.1, 1:26.0, 1:55.4). Icanflylikeanangel (Corey Braden) followed in the pocket all the way to the middle of the stretch, he pulled from the pocket and went all out, but fell short and settled for second best. Tropical Trice (Mike Merton) finished third. Uncle Hanover is a 6-year-old gelding by Muscle Hill. He is owned By Probber Morse Racing LLC and Unity Stable while trained by Barry Probber. He won for the fifth time this season and secured career win number 16. Probber had a training double. His other win was with Explosive Drama ($6.90). Wygant Prince (Paul Minore) won the Billings amateur race ($6,000). Uriel Prince (Annie Stoebe) controlled all the early fractions (:28.0, :58.1, 1:27.0). Wygant Prince ($25.40) , who is owned by Minore and trained by Taylor Gower, popped out of the pocket going around the final turn and held off a late charge from Aventure (Tony Ciuffetelli) to win in 1:57.3. Aventure finished second best while Uriel held on for third. Wygant Prince is an 11-year-old gelding by S J’s Photo. It was his sixth win of 2018 and his 37th career trip to the winner’s circle. Fern Paquet Jr. and Kyle DiBenedetto each won two races on the night. Paquet Jr. won with Bashful Strike ($18.00) and Zoraze ($9.70). DiBenedetto got his wins with Moolah Moolah ($23.80) and Explosive Drama ($6.90). Tioga Downs returns to live racing with a 13 race card on Sunday (July 8) at 1 p.m. For more information go to www.tiogadowns.com.

Running Aces

The Saturday evening program at Running Aces was highlighted by an impressive performance from Giggle Monster, who swept the field from last to first with a breathtaking stretch rally to score his second win of the season. It was in a lifetime best mile in 1:54.1 with a very strong final panel of :27.3 in the $8,800 3-year-old Open Pace. Giggle Monster ($24.60) was a dominant freshman Minnesota pacer last season, with seven wins and two seconds in nine starts. The son of Wind Me Up is owned by Alan and Cheryl Sandbulte, Driven by Dean Magee and trained by Justin Anfinson. Tinhorn Creek (Lemoyne Svendsen) picked up top honors in the $9,000 Claiming Handicap pace with an impressive dominating performance from post six, Tinhorn Creek ($6.20) faced an early battle with Barbosa (Nick Roland) but was able to sweep by that rival to establish command just before the quarter-mile, and from there he was never in doubt. Barbosa held second in the impressive 1:52 mile; Art Genta (Steve Wiseman) checking in third. Tinhorn Creek is owned by Medinah Racing and trained by current leading trainer Kathleen Plested. Drivers Brady Jenson, James Yoder and Dean Magee all completed doubles on the Saturday night card. The Sunday (July 8) program features 12 races headlined by the Dan Patch FFA eliminations as 14 pacers will battle to advance in the $95,000 series. There are several carryovers for Sunday as well. There is an early Pick-3 carryover of $360.06, an early Pick-4 $669.86, and Jackpot Pick-5 $2,779.14. There is a guaranteed pool for the Late Pick-4 wager of $7,500.00. First post is 6 p.m. CDT.