by harness racing publicists across North America

The Saturday (Aug. 26) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Batavia Downs, The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Vernon Downs, Tioga Downs, Kawartha Downs, Saratoga Casino Hotel and Running Aces.

Rockin In Heaven posts fastest mile of Batavia meet

Batavia, NY — It was much like a walk in the park for visiting Mohawk Raceway regular Rockin In Heaven as he went gate to wire without issue in the $10,000 Open Handicap pace at Batavia Downs on Saturday night (Aug. 26).

Paul White photo

Rockin In Heaven cruises to fastest pacing mile of the season (1:52.1) at Batavia Downs on Saturday.

Driver Jim Morrill Jr. left decisively with Rockin In Heaven and gained a lead he would not relinquish. While touring the facility with the best view, he took his competitors to the half in :56.1 before getting it in gear in the second half.

With For A Bettor Time (Kevin Cummings) sitting behind him Rockin In Heaven was challenged by Believe This Bob (Drew Monti) moving to the three-quarters. But Morrill let him out a notch and posted a :27.4 third quarter to keep everyone in check. From there he swelled up and motored down the lane to a handy victory in 1:52.1, which was the fastest pacing mile of the 2017 meet.

It was the fourth win in 15 starts for Rockin In Heaven ($4.80) and it pushed his earnings for the year to $57,819. The 5-year-old son of Rock N Roll Heaven is owned by Dr. Ian Moore, Douglas Polley, Francois Lecomte and Gordon McComb. Dr. Moore trains Rockin In Heaven.

In the co-featured $9,000 Open II pace, Show Stopping (Kevin Cummings) pulled first-over at the five-eighths and paced stride for stride with the front-running Lucky McTrucky (Jim Morrill Jr.), eventually out-dueling him at the wire to win by a nose in 1:53.4, equaling his seasonal mark.

Show Stopping ($26.60) is owned by Resiliant Racing Stable and trained by Rose Russo.

The Downs leading driver Drew Monti had a grand slam on Saturday night while Jim Morrill Jr., Kevin Cummings and Ron Beback Jr. each had two wins apiece.

Batavia Downs had a very special guest visit the track on Saturday as the 2012 Olympic women’s pole vault gold medalist Jenn Suhr was in the clubhouse enjoying the races. Suhr, who is also a 15-time U.S. National champion and holder of several women’s pole vaulting records, most recently won a gold medal in the 2016 World championships in Portland, Oregon.

Racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Sunday (Aug. 27) at 1:15 p.m. The card features the $107,000 New York Sires Stakes for 2-year-old colts and geldings and also Family Fun Day and the “Dauschund Dash” Wiener Dog races.

— by Tim Bojarski

Pocono Downs

Both trotter Skates N Plates and pacer Bruce’s Magic both used pocket trips as their means to the winners circle Saturday at the Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, as they were victorious in their respective $16,500 features after achieving the two-hole in decidedly different ways. Skates N Plates, a son of Revenue S, got his seat in the golden chair in the conventional fashion, leaving well enough to sit behind pacesetting Somebody AS, then rallying to catch that rival by a neck in his 1:54 mile. Anthony Napolitano was in the sulky behind the winner of $396,929 for trainer Andrew Harris and owner Robert Key. As for Bruce’s Magic – well, how does a horse who’s seventh at the half wind up in the pocket? And without leaving the rail, at that. Well, here’s how Bruce’s Magic did it; he saw the four horses in front of him all pull to the outside early in the backstretch and scooted up the inside to improve position. Thus he was well-placed when pocket-sitting Bestjetyet made a small break nearing the three-quarters and moved to the outside, affecting all those in the wide tiers except the first-over horse. A tug on the left line from driver Vinnie Ginsburg and the triumphant altered son of Rocknroll Hanover had his winning path. He caught favored Ontario Success by a neck in a lifetime best of 1:50.1. Bruce Lauer trains the new member of the $100,000 Club for owner Bill Reepmeyer. Pocono’s leading trainer, Rene Allard, had a rare foray into longshot territory in the fourth race, as Maxi Bon won a three-horse photo by a nose with Anthony Morgan deputizing in the sulky, paying $75.00 for a $2 win wager. The track’s leading driver George Napolitano had seven wins on the evening.

Vernon Downs

JK Panache (Chris Lems) goes gate to wire to win the $7,500 feature at Vernon Downs on Saturday (Aug. 26). JK Panache (Art Major) would charge out of the gate and control all the times of :27.1, :56.0, 1:23.2 and 1:51.0. The 7-year-old, who is owned by Phiilip Hale and Trainer David Dewhurst, would be tough in the stretch holding off the late charge of Oh My Joepa (John MacDonald). Oh My Joepa would finish second with Calvin B (Truman Gale) finishing third. JK Panache ($3.10) would win for the seventh time this season. He would notch his 53rd win. Truman Gale and Jimmy Whittemore would each win a couple on the night. Gale would first win with The Time To Win ($2.90). Winning easily by six lengths in 1:54.4. His second win was with Stonebridge Bonus ($11.60) in 1:54.0. Whittemore went to the winner’s circle with Skip Jive ($12.20), who won in 1:52.4. His second win was with Arsenal ($5.80) in 1:52.3 Vernon Downs returns to live racing on Friday (Aug. 31) at 6:45 p.m. For more information go to www.vernondowns.com.

Tioga Downs

Dragin The Wagon (Aaron Byron) would take the featured Open II pace ($9,000) at Tioga Downs on Saturday night (Aug. 26). Dragin The Wagon (Angus Hall) would fly out of the gate and never look back. Owned by James, Michael and David Cantelon and trained by Jeff Byron, the 7-year-old would control all the fractions of :28.0, :57.1, 1:25.3 and 1:54.3 for the victory. Bjanthony (Mickey McNichol) and Zoraze (Fern Paquet Jr.) would both charge late to make it interesting. Both horses ended in a dead heat for second. Dragin The Wagon ($4,00) won for the fourth time this season and earned his 35th career victory. Byron would win two more on the night. His next win was with Warhorse ($12.00) and his final win was with Rose Run Rudi ($5.50) Dein Spriggs won the Billings Driver Club race with Perfect Road ($10.20). Live racing returns on Sunday (Aug. 27), featuring The Crawford Farms Trot, The Joie De Vie Mares Trot and the Artiscape Open Mares Pace. Also on hand will be the Reynolds Stakes races, featuring freshman colts and fillies, trotters and pacers. Corntastic weekend comes to an end on Sunday featuring Western Family Fun Day (free) and free long sleeve t-shirts. The 12-race card begins at 1 p.m. For more information please go to www.tiogadowns.com.

Kawartha Downs

Trainer/drivers Darcy Clancy and Matt Harvey both had doubles tonight at Kawartha Downs. Clancy’s first win was with Runaway Mystery who came from behind to win in 1:57.4. It was the first start of the season and the first lifetime win for the 3-year-old gelding of Mister Big owned by Clancy and Gary Smith. His second trip to the winner’s circle was with Thundering Bay who scored a three-length score. While Runaway Mystery is just starting out his career, Thundering Bay’s is winding down. The 14-year-old veteran is owned by breeder Walter Clancy. Modern Mystery managed to score a head victory for Matt Harvey in the fifth race and Harvey was back again following the seventh thanks to a 1:59.1 effort with Majestic Maggie. He owns and trains the Majestic Son 5-year-old daughter. There are just four more race programs on Kawartha’s 2017 schedule. Next Saturday the track hosts the Titans Of Trotting and features the track’s signature race, the Goodtimes Invitational Trot. The evening celebrates the achievements of three incredible trotters who started their careers at Kawartha Downs and ended them in Hall of Fame. Racing gets underway at 7 p.m.

Saratoga Casino Hotel

Artful Way (Artistic Fella) did on Saturday night what Artful Way does as the Jackie Greene trainee scored an Open Pace win at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The track’s defending Pacer of the Year went coast-to-coast in Saturday’s $18,000 feature and never suffered an anxious moment. Coming in off a victory in the Plainridge Open earlier in the week, Artful Way utilized his early speed to make it to the top with relative ease. After getting a first half in :56.2, he had plenty left for the back half and cruised to the win in 1:52.1 with Frank Coppola Jr. in the sulky. Longshot Wynberg Courage N (Bruce Aldrich Jr.) was the runner-up as the 28-1 shot got the pocket ride and held on to earn the place spot on Saturday while fellow invader Maxdaddy Blue Chip (Billy Dobson) came on to finish third. Though Artful Way was the race’s odds-on favorite, the exacta and triple in the Open paid well. The exacta returned $42.40 while the triple came back $271 in the seven-horse feature. Artful Way joined stablemate Titus Seelster as four-time winners of the Open Pace at the Spa this season. Both standouts are owned by the Kellogg Racing Stables of Queensbury, N.Y. Artful Way’s connections also had the winner of Wednesday night’s Fillies and Mares Open as Stylish Beachwhere scored the victory in a local feature for the second time in three tries. Live racing resumes on Tuesday night at Saratoga with a first post time of 7:05 p.m.

Running Aces

The Saturday evening harness racing program at Running Aces proved to be a wet and wild night for driver Steve Wiseman, who delivered four of his charges to the winners circle on a rain-soaked night. Wiseman had taken over the top spot on the leading drivers list during last weeks action, and has now padded that lead nicely as we enter the final 10 nights of the 2017 season. Going in to Sunday’s (Aug. 27) 11-race card, Wiseman has a nine-win lead over all-time Running Aces leader Nick Roland. One of the biggest wins for Wiseman on Saturday was with the 3-year-old gelding pacer Sgt Papa Daddy (by Rockin Image), who picked up his second win in five seasonal starts and recorded a new lifetime mark of 1:55 despite the sloppy conditions. Wiseman sat well off the hot early pace (:27.2, :55.4) and rallied from 10 lengths off the lead at the half to get up at the wire and post a 1-1/2 length tally. Sgt Papa Daddy ($4.20) is trained by Brett Ballinger for owner Merlin Van Oterloo. The featured trot on the program was a $6,400 conditioned event, and Tame The Dice ($15.00) with Steve Wiseman, rocketed from the gate from post nine and never looked back with a convincing gate-to-wire win by 1-1/4 lengths in 2:00.2, for the 5-year-old mare’s third win in 16 starts this year. She is owned by Chambers, Plested, Vachss and Arnstine, and is trained by part-owner Kathie Plested-Wiseman. The $6,500 Minnesota-sired 3-year-old pace went as an early non-betting affair, and Whatitdo Babyboo (Steve Wiseman) picked up another feather for her cap as she once again rallied from last to first for win number six in 11 starts this season, stopping the clock in 1:55 despite the track and weather conditions. The sharp filly by Voracious Hanover now has 13 wins in 20 career starts, and has earned $78,398 for owner/breeder Van Oterloo Stables. She is trained by Brett Ballinger. On the trainer’s side, Kathie Plested-Wiseman has taken the lead atop the trainers list, and picked up two more wins on Saturday night, to place her five wins ahead of Nick Roland in the battle for the trainer’s title. Live racing continues three nights a week at Running Aces through Saturday, Sept. 16. For schedules and information visit our website www.RunAces.com.