by harness racing publicists across North America

The Saturday (Aug. 6) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Batavia Downs, Pocono, Tioga Downs, Running Aces and Saratoga.

Sam Hill dominates locals in Batavia Downs feature

Batavia, NY — Trainer John Sullivan is a regular at the Meadows Racetrack, but the Rochester, N.Y. native visited his old stomping grounds on Saturday night (Aug. 6) and left with the winner’s share of the $10,000 purse after winning the Open Pace at Batavia Downs with his classy veteran, Sam Hill.

Paul White photo

Sam Hill wins the Batavia Downs feature in 1:53.3, the fastest time yet of the meet.

If the race were a fight, they would have called it early after Kevin Cummings left with Sam Hill and put local top side-wheeler Fireyourguns (Mike Caprio) in his place when he tried to leave against him. From there, Sam Hill called all the shots.

Sam Hill led and Fireyourguns was sitting second when they passed the half in :56.3, then Whosurpal (Todd Cummings) joined the party when he pulled from fifth and tried to challenge. But the best he could do was get within a loose length of the leader in the :28.3 third panel. From there Kevin Cummings gave Sam Hill his head and he powered away to an easy two-length victory in 1:53.3. The time was the fastest pace of the 2016 meet to date.

It was the fifth win in 15 starts for Sam Hill ($5.10) and it pushed his earnings to $55,100 for the year. The 10-year-old Artsplace gelding now has 44 wins and $478,767 lifetime. Sam Hill is owned by Don Tiger.

In the co-featured $9,000 Open II Pace, the red hot Jim Graham Stable saw Closing Credits ($8.70) add to their win total as the 6-year-old Rambaran gelding went wire-to-wire in 1:54.3 for driver Dave McNeight III. Closing Credits is owned by his trainer and the Cybo Stable Inc.

Drivers Dave McNeight III and Jack Flanigen both scored triples on the card, as did trainers Jim Graham and JD Perrin. Flanigen and Perrin teamed up to win the last three races of the night.

Racing resumes on Sunday (Aug. 7) afternoon at Batavia Downs at 1:15 p.m. when the NYSS 3-year-old pacing colts and geldings invade the Genesee County oval to compete for $119,300 in purses.

— by Tim Bojarski

Pocono

Phil Your Boots ($10.40) overcame a first-over journey to prove most photogenic in a four-way picture deciding the $18,000 pacing feature Saturday (Aug. 6) night at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono in 1:50.1. A 6-year-old gelded son of Shanghai Phil, Phil Your Boots actually left well but yielded the early lead, watching three horses go by him in the first 3/8: first Soto before the :25.4 quarter, then Bushwacker, then quarter-moving favorite Southwind Amazon, who put up middle splits of :54.2 and 1:21.4. Driver Anthony Napolitano then had the unenviable task of going uncovered against his brother George, driving Southwind Amazon, but he and “Phil” wore down the leader past midstretch, then held off a deep Pocono Pike rally by Soto to win by a head, with Southwind Amazon another head behind those two and Bushwacker fourth, only a half-length behind the winner. Trained by Andrew Harris, Phil Your Boots was purchased by current owner Louis Frascella nearing the end of winter 2015, and when the horse took a three-month hiatus before a summertime campaign last year, his lifetime record would not rate the word “distinguished”: seven wins in 65 starts, earnings of $48,877, and a mark of 1:55.1. But Phil Your Boots is the kind of horse that keep owners dreaming about “the good horse just around the corner”: returning in mid-2015 as an $8000 claimer, Phil Your Boots had worked his way up to the Open ranks and taken a mark of 1:49.1 at Dover before year’s end, and in total during the last 14 months the pacer’s scorecard shows 18 wins in 47 starts and earnings of $195,349. The victory was the third on the night for driver Anthony Napolitano, of course well-known to Pocono fans, but another driver, now coming to Pocono on Saturdays and quickly making a big impression, is Pat Berry, who also had three wins on the card, two of them paying over $40: P L Haymaker at $48.80 for trainer Ron Burke (Pocono’s leading trainer of longshot winners with three $50+ horses at the meet) and Rainbow Romance N at $41.40 for trainer Scott DiDomenico. Berry is tied for the lead in the driving longshot category 100 miles down the Pa. Turnpike at Harrah’s Philly, with three of his four “bombers” constituting half the track’s most recent output, and Pat and DiDomenico combined at Philly on May 8 with Twin B Famous, with that $136.20 win mutuel the second-highest of the year at the Harrah’s oval.

Tioga Downs

Scott Woogen’s Six Bax ($26.80) held off stern pressure to upset as the longest shot on the board in Saturday (Aug. 6) evening’s featured $11,000 Open I Trot at Tioga Downs, giving driver Jim Taggart, Jr. one of his four wins on the 10-race card. The 7-year-old Kadabra gelding emerged with the early lead, forcing Don Dorado (Mike Simons) into the pocket through a :27.1 first quarter before bracing for an extended first-over challenge from Its Payday Friday (Ronnie Morales) through middle splits of :56.2 and 1:24.3. Six Bax dug in to rebuff the challenge of Its Payday Friday on the far turn and subsequently held sway of a belated rally from Oh No Three O (Jeff Long), who swung four-wide in the straight off a fourth-over trip. Six Bax prevailed by three-quarters of a length in 1:54.3, while Oh No Three O finished a neck better than Its Payday Friday to just claim second. Gary Messenger trains Six Bax, who scored his sixth win in 16 tries this year. Messenger and Taggart also teamed up with Cool Breeze de Vie ($2.40, 1:54.4) and I’m Fabulous ($5.60, 1:57), while Steven Moore trainee Murs Son ($16.80, 2:00) rounded out Taggart’s driving grand slam. The 50-cent Pick-5 will carry over again to Sunday (Aug. 7) afternoon’s 12-race card, with $531.91 of added money on the line should anyone succeed in selecting the first five winners. Post time for the Sunday opener is set for 1:30 p.m. Eastern.

Running Aces

The Saturday (Aug. 6) night harness racing program at Running Aces would feature two divisions of the Minnesota-sired 3-year-old pacers, going for a total purse pf $17,000. The A division would see another impressive effort from the David Flynn trainee SwagasaurusRex ($4.60) with driver Rick Magee. The duo got away in the pocket at the :27.3 quarter and sat patiently third at the pylons through the :57.2 half, before moving first over at the 1:26.4 three-quarters then drawing away from his rivals to post 1-1/2 length tally in 1:54.3 over Stuckey Dote (Jim Marino) and American Dancer (Luke Plano). His final quarter time of :27.2 was the fastest of the night. Tonight’s effort was his 10th lifetime win in his 21st start, and his second straight win. It also pushed his career bankroll to $45,902 for owner Richard Davelaar. In the $6,800 B split, it was a career effort by Mint To Cruise, who goes by the nickname “Brad” around the barn. He’s a son of Up Front Brad by Brooklyn Mint. This talented gelding posted his second dominating performance in a row and lowered his lifetime best to 1:55.1 this evening with a closing win from off the pace. Trainer/driver Nick Roland got “Brad” moving at the three-quarters and he passed all of his rivals handily, then went on to score by 1-1/2 lengths with a :28.2 final stanza. Mint To Cruise is owned by Set The Pace Racing, LLC. He paid $19.60 as an 8-1 longshot in the wagering. Another very impressive performance on the program was the 7-year -ld pacing mare Hotmones, (by Hot Pans) who posted her 29th lifetime win tonight by going gate-to-wire and drawing away to score in 1:53.4 to establish a new career mark with trainer/driver Nick Roland in the bike for owner Brenda McDonald. Hotmones ($7.40) also eclipsed the $100,000 earnings mark with her performance tonight, pushing her bankroll to $100,960. Nick Roland had a big night with a Grand Slam on the eight-race card and Gerald Longo picked up a driving double. Running Aces remains in full-swing with live harness racing four nights a week through September 3. Post times are 6:00 pm CDT on Saturdays and Sundays, and 7:00 pm CDT on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Saratoga

Titus Seelster (Artistic Fella) utilized his tremendous early speed at the start of Saturday’s (Aug. 6) feature at Saratoga Casino Hotel and then was able to sit back and watch as his rivals duked it out. The Jackie Rousse-trained pacer sat the pocket in Saturday’s $15,000 Open Pace and waited patiently while front-running Sassy Hanover was met with several challenges. Respectable Dream (Austin Siegelman) was dismissed at 13-1 and fought gamely on the outside while wearing down the leader. All the while, the race’s odds-on favorite Givenupdreaming (Stephane Bouchard) was making progress in his attempt to go last to first. Respectable Dream took the lead turning for home and while Givenupdreaming was flying on the outside, Titus Seelster snuck up the passing lane and proved fastest of all, stopping the timer in 1:52.3. Titus Seelster returned $14.20 to win in the mild upset as he bested Respectable Dream who was a more than respectable second in his debut in the local Open and Givenupdreaming who had to settle for third. The exacta and triple came back $187 and $910, respectively. Titus Seelster was driven to his second local Open win of the year by Frank Coppola Jr. Live racing resumes on Tuesday (Aug. 9) night at Saratoga when 3-year-old colts and geldings take center stage as part of the New York Sire Stakes. First post time is set for 7:05 p.m.