from harness publicists across North America

Wednesday’s (September 1) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Harrington Raceway, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, Batavia Downs and Saratoga Gaming and Raceway.

Sedona Canyon takes Wednesday Open at Harrington

Harrington, DE –— Michael Casalino and Dylan Davis’ Sedona Canyon ($8.60, Corey Callahan) earned his first career win at Harrington Raceway on Wednesday with a 1:57 triumph in the $20,000 Open Trot.

Fotowon photo

Sedona Canyon was a 1:57 winner.

The 4-year-old Yankee Glide gelding mounted his attack on pacesetter Powerful Committee first over and edged clear into the stretch for a narrow win over Nordic Venture and Fivedollarsforsox.

It was the fifth win of the season for Sedona Canyon.

Drivers Corey Callahan and Jim Morand registered three wins on the program.

— Matt Sparacino

Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs
Secretagent Cullen, a 9-year-old Christian Cullen gelding driven by Matt Kakaley, just missed equaling his life mark in winning a $20,000 claimer on Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. Secretagent Cullen, trained by Ron Burke, stopped the timer in 1:51.3, just a fifth of a second off the life mark for the older pacer. Burke and Kakaley also teamed to win the sixth race with trotter Ripken, who was given a two-hole trip behind favorite Mr Boyd (Mark Gingrich) in a trot for non-winners of two pari-mutuel races lifetime. Ripken, a 3-year-old Muscles Yankee gelding, was timed in 1:57, a new life mark. Western Starzzz, trained and driven by Joe Pavia, Jr., won a $15,000 claiming pace with a new life mark of 1:51.2. This was the fifth victory in 19 starts this season for Western Starzzz, a 4-year-old gelding who was claimed out of the race.

Batavia Downs
The weekly $9,000 pacing feature for the distaffers went to Joe Cicatello’s Nora Lee in 1:55.2 on Wednesday night at Batavia Downs Casino. Leaving from post position four, Nora Lee, with Jamie Dunlap at the lines, followed second-over cover, tipped three deep at the top of the stretch and outfinished the pocket sitting Pembroke Primo (Kevin Cummings) to win by 1-3/4 lengths. The Grey Filly (Ron Beback, Jr.) closed from last to be third. Nora Lee, a Modern Art 4-year-old mare, notched her seventh win of 2010 and raised her seasonal earnings to over $36,000. Mike Delano is the conditioner.

Saratoga Gaming and Raceway
It was another big night in another big year for Saratoga’s leading driver Frank Coppola, Jr. on Wednesday evening. Coppola headed into 2010 with back-to-back driving titles to his credit and is well on his way to a third straight. On Wednesday night, Coppola lengthened his lead in the driver standings behind a four win evening. The 50-year-old Coppola started out the night in style, scoring with 18-1 longshot Saratoga’s Best, tracking down the race’s favorite in the process. From there, Coppola would go on to pilot Blues And BBQ’s to a minor upset win and favorites Ebony Isle and He’s So Coole to victories on the 13-race card. Coppola broke the all-time track record for wins by a driver in 2009, piloting 341 wins in an amazing season. The ten-time driver champion headed into Wednesday with a lead of about 15 over Billy Dobson who sits in second place, just a few victories in front of Dan Cappello. Jr. who is currently third in the standings.