Racing Roundup: Rhino scores in Albatross Knockout Series Final
May 1, 2010,from Harness Publicists across North America
Saturday’s (May 1) Racing Roundup features results stories from Buffalo Raceway, Hoosier Park, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, Pompano Park, Vernon Downs and Cal-Expo
Rhino scores in Albatross Knockout Series Final Hamburg, NY — In the $25,000 Albatross Knockout Series Final, for horses with a $4,000 claiming tag, Rhino, a 6-year-old No Nukes gelding, out of the Tyler B mare Dolly Ironstone, won in a season’s best of 1:57.1 at Buffalo Raceway to register his fourth win of the year for owners Doug Neely and Larry Clabaugh.
Paul White photo
Rhino was a 1:57.1 winner on Saturday at Buffalo.
Capably driven by reinsman Troy Boring, Rhino ($18.40), the 8-1 longshot in the race, settled in sixth from post five as Brookletsmrgoodbar (Jack Flanigen) and Spicy Sport (Dan Dylo) battled for the early lead. It was a quick :28.3 to the quarter-pole by Brookletsmrgoodbar and a snappy :58.1 to the half by Take Five (Jamie Dunlap).
The fast early fractions set the race up perfectly for the closers and they came flying down the backstretch with Rhino leading the charge. As the field hit the top of the stretch, eventual third place finisher Wine Guide (Ron Beback, Jr.) had the lead, but was soon engulfed by both Rhino and Itz Spanky Boy (Tom Agosti). Rhino prevailed by a nose at the wire.
“I was third over down the backstretch but he (Rhino) felt pretty good,” said Boring. “I wasn’t sure I beat Tommy’s horse (Itz Spanky Boy) but my horse was flying on the outside.”
Trained by Larry Clabaugh, the $12,500 share of the purse boosted Rhino’s season’s bankroll to $23,134 and $89,539 lifetime.
— Sam Pendolino
The Admiral wins Invite at Hoosier Park Anderson, IN — The Admiral, driven by Eric Goodell, held off Freddyscooter and Mark O’Mara down the stretch to win the featured $23,000 Invitational Pace on Saturday at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino.
Linscott Photography
The Admiral was a narrow winner in the Invitational Pace at Hoosier Park.
It was a two horse race with The Admiral and Freddyscooter slugging it out the last eighth of a mile, giving The Admiral the half-length advantage at the wire in a time of 1:52.3.
Several horses left for the top spot from the gate, giving Royalton Star and driver Andy Shetler their customary spot in the lead at the quarter-mile marker in :26.3. The shuffling for the top spot continued. Just before the half-mile marker, the fourth leader of the race took over as Ricky Macomber and Unrecognized Saint moved into the top spot in :54.2. Goodell had The Admiral in the outside path near the back of the pack, just waiting for another horse to tip out and give him a horse to follow forward.
Valentowner and leading driver Peter Wrenn moved to the outside heading into the turn and The Admiral was slow to move up behind him but did gain ground on the front horses. Unrecognized Saint continued to lead to the top of the stretch before Freddyscooter and Mark O’Mara tipped off The Admiral’s back and took off for the wire.
Freddyscooter appeared to have the lengthiest stride but he could not shake The Admiral, who continued to grind his way at the leader. In the final strides, The Admiral wore down Freddyscooter and came back on the inside to win. Robin I Scoot and Trace Tetrick closed well to finish third.
“I drove this horse (The Admiral) earlier this year at the Meadowlands,” said Goodell, who is new to the Indiana circuit this season. “I wasn’t expecting him to beat these horses tonight. He can be kind of temperamental, but if he’s on his game, he gets it done.”
The Admiral picked up his third win of the season in 14 starts for owner Larry Lyles of LRL Racing. The win was his 19th overall in 66 lifetime starts, which puts his career earnings over $260,000. Kim Pluta, based out of Michigan, trains the 5-year-old son of Admiral’s Galley.
— David Terhune
One More Yankee wins in 1:49.4 at Pocono Wilkes-Barre, PA — Golden Receiver made it three straight in the $28,000 Open Handicap Pace at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs on Saturday, but it was One More Yankee hitting the home run in race 3 of the 16-race card. Driven by Tony Morgan, One More Yankee turned in the fastest mile of the meet thus far, stopping the timer in 1:49.4 in a conditioned race. The winning mile for One More Yankee, a 4-year-old Yankee Cruiser gelding, is a new life mark. One More Yankee is now two for two at the Northeastern Pennsylvania racetrack since coming up from Yonkers. Assigned the eight hole, Golden Receiver, trained by Mark Harder, for the second straight week overcame that post to win in 1:51.1 with Jim Morrill, Jr. in the sulky. Second went to Where’s Waldo (Joe Pavia, Jr.) while finishing third was Mr Hallowell (George Napolitano, Jr.). The Mohegan Pace for 3-year-old pacing colts and geldings also highlighted the big Saturday night crowd. Tom Paine, a colt trained by Carl Le Cause and driven by Pavia, won the second division of four with a time of 1:51.4, a new life mark. Another divisional winner was Pike Hanover (Morrill), stopping the timer in 1:53. — John Zimich Outback Papeete wins Saratoga feature Saratoga Springs, NY — Outback Papeete was the star of the show at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway on Saturday night as the classy pacer won his first local Open. Drawing the rail for the $16,500 feature, Outback Papeete was aggressive early as driver Chris Long wanted the lead at all costs. The veteran pacer took the lead early and kept it every step of the way while drawing away late for the 1:53.4 win. The victory was the third success of the year for the Robyn Mangiardi trained 8-year-old who has climbed up through the claiming ranks to become an Open winner, matching his seasonal best effort in the Saturday feature. High Calibre N (Jay Randall) was the runner-up while DJ Wonder (Jim Devaux) finished third. Outback Papeete’s driver Chris Long enjoyed a big day on Saturday as the reinsman who currently sits in third in the standings at the Spa piloted five winners over the course of the doubleheader. Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga with a matinee set to begin at 12:45 p.m. — Mike Sardella Hazel Eyes does it again at Pompano Pompano Beach, FL — Driver Gaston Lareau seemed apologetic even though he’d just engineered a second straight win for pacer Hazel Eyes in The Favorite Series late closer on Saturday evening at the Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park. “This horse raced great again and all credit to his trainer, Brian Bellamy, because he overcame my mistake,” Lareau said after the 1:54.1 win for the 4-year-old Real Artist-Hazelton Kay gelding. “Brian and I had a plan but it didn’t work out at all like we wanted. I was sixth before I knew it going into the first turn and my only option was a third over trip. Brian told me in the winner’s circle he thought we were in a bad spot and I certainly agree. Fortunately, he was good enough when I pulled the earplugs turning into the stretch to bail me out.” Truponder, in rein to David Ingraham, blasted to the front in the $8,000 leg in :27.1 and led through the middle portions of :57 and 1:25.1 before giving way late to Hazel Eyes and Scoot Diablo with Wally Hennessey in tow. Hazel Eyes will now wear the favorite’s label heading into the Series final on May 8 for owners Carin Peel, Jason Churchill and Charles Churchill. The last $6,500 preliminary leg of The Springboard late closer was also contested in South Florida on the May 1 program. When race favorites Erichs Best and Hurricane Howard made early breaks a second over trip ensued for 10-1 upsetter Pennthouse. “I was aware of those horses breaking and this was a nice way for this horse to get his first lifetime win,” driver Richard Simard said of the 3-year-old House Of Fun-Penn Krystal gelding. Trainer Jean Beaulieu shares ownership of the lightly raced prospect with Jacques Damours. Cody’s Honor, in rein to Kevin Wallis, posted all the front end fractions in :27.4, :56.4, and 1:25.4 before fading to fourth. “The trip worked out great for us but those other horses made big recoveries to finish right behind me, and I’d expect them to still be the horses to beat in next week’s final,” Simard said of Hurricane Howard and Erichs Best. Saturday evening’s card also featured a $12,000 Open-2 Handicap Pace. Paragon, an 8-year-old Cambest-Lola pacer wired the field in 1:52.3 with Kevin Wallis in the bike for trainer Paul Holzman and owner Melvin Fink after controlling the pace in :26.3, :55.3, and 1:24. The past champion of Woodbine’s Cam Fella Series handily defeated Omaha Survivor in rein to David Ingraham and The Quiet Mon partnered by Wally Hennessey. — Frank Salive Bay Of Sharks scores in Vernon feature Vernon, NY — Bay Of Sharks equaled the Vernon Downs record for 4-year-old pacing horses with his 1:50.2 clocking after winning Saturday night’s $9,000 featured sixth race. With dash-driving leader Josh Marks at the controls, Bay Of Sharks went right to the front from the outside five post and cut fractions of :27.2, :55.3 and 1:23.1 en route to a two length triumph over last week’s winner in the Class A Miracle Mile contest, Stettin Hanover. Mystical Valentine finished third. Saturday’s speedy score came in the first season’s start for the bay son of Cam’s Card Shark-Whitley Bay, who is trained by Tracy Brainard and owned by Michael and Sam Sergi. The time stands as the fastest mile of the six-night-old meet, and it tied the track record for this age, sex and gait that was set by Riggins in August of 2009. — Jim Moran Inconvenient Truth is a razor sharp victor at Cal-Expo Sacramento, CA — Conditioned-claiming pacers were featured at Cal-Expo on Saturday night, in which Inconvenient Truth got back on the winning track. Only a diminishing 1-3/4 lengths back of the leader at the three-quarter marker, timed in 1:26.1, driver Luke Plano had every reason to be super confident. “I really didn’t ask him a whole lot in the third quarter, but he was still making a nice move for me and I let him keep rolling and pace toward the lead. At the three-quarters I knew I had made up quite a bit of ground, plus I still had a lot of momentum and plenty of ‘go’ while at the same time I thought Riverlea Hanover (James Kennedy) was shortening up. As a result I thought I was in real good shape at that point.” Forging to the lead with an eighth of a mile to go and now under a drive, Plano discovered it wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought. “To my surprise, as soon as I put a nose in front of Riverlea Hanover she started to fight back pretty strongly and I had some concern down the stretch that she’d come back to get me. My horse, however, dug tough as well all the way down to the wire.” Outfighting a tough and good Riverlea Hanover, Inconvenient Truth scored ($6.20) by a half-length. Owned by Chris Schick and trained by Rick Plano, the 4-year-old stopped the timer at 1:55.1, a lifetime best. The pacesetting Riverlea Hanover went down fighting to be second and Red Star Engineer (Anthony Succarotte) came on late to be third, another four lengths farther back. “I thought the horse raced great. He’s definitely a nice little horse,” concluded the young Plano. — Scott Ehrlich