Shady Sabrina wins $30,000 Open again at Dover

Dover, DE — Shady Sabrina won the $30,000 Mares Open Handicap Pace for the second straight week with a career fastest clocking of 1:52 on Tuesday at Dover Downs.

Fotowon photo

Shady Sabrina was one of four winners on Tuesday for Tim Tetrick.

Tim Tetrick chalked up his fourth win on the card, steering Shady Sabrina to the victory. It was the Cam’s Dignity-Mymymymysharona 8-year-old’s fifth win of the year. After closing from far back last week, Shady Sabrina went right to the front this time for a convincing two length win. Alice’s Restaurant went a tough trip, challenging the winner on the outside, and still held on for second. Perfect M Forever finished third with Brad Hanners in the bike.

Earlier, in a $20,000 distaff pace, All Or None just got up for Corey Callahan for a 1:50 triumph, just shy of the 1:49.4 track record for a 4-year-old mare set by the legendary Rainbow Blue. Alpine Gold N (Tetrick) cut out all the fractions until the final step. Boca Hanover (Frank Milby) was the show finisher. North State Street Stable owns the daughter of Cam’s Card Shark-Heather’s Western who is trained by Dylan Davis.

— Marv Bachrad

Grain Of Truth and Rompaway Alvin win Pocono features

Wilkes-Barre, PA — Grain Of Truth and Ray Schnittker won the $28,000 Open I Handicap Trot on Tuesday at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.

Schnittker sat second or third for three-quarters of the race while 1-5 favorite Vivid Photo (Yannick Gingras) took the field to the opening quarter in :27.4, the half in :58.1 and three-quarters in 1:26.2 before getting nosed out by Grain Of Truth, who charged up the passing lane to win in a thriller. Mike Simons and A Gentleman finished third in the race.

Grain Of Truth, trained by Schnittker, went off at 40-1 and returned $83.00, $20.40 and $5.80 across the board. Time of the mile was 1:54.2, just a fifth off the lifetime mark for the 9-year-old Self Possessed gelding who was winning for the first time in 2010 on the fourth start of the season.

Meanwhile, the Open II Trot was won by No. 7 Rompaway Alvin, driven by David Miller and trained by Peter Kleinhans. In only the second start back after a long layoff, Rompaway Alvin grabbed the lead after the opening quarter, took the nine-horse field to the half in :56.1 and the three-quarters in 1:25, followed by Four Star Robro (Joe Pavia, Jr.) and Iliketherain (Gingras).

This mile went in 1:54.1 over a lightning fast racing surface. Four Starz Robro was second with Khifra Hanover (Kevin Sizer) third.

— John Zimich

Gold Comet wins Monticello feature

Monticello, NY — Gold Comet copped the $7,300 Winners Over Pace on Tuesday at Monticello Raceway with a wire-to-wire, 1:56.3 effort for driver Billy “Zeke” Parker, Jr. It was one of three driving victories for the 14-time champion at Monticello Raceway and was one of three training wins for Gary Messenger.

Sent off as the betting favorite at odds of 2-1, slightly less than last season’s Horse of the Year, Southbound Trucker, who was also 2-1 on the board, Parker used the pole position to his advantage.

He sent the 6-year-old Aces N Sevens gelding — up from Yonkers Raceway and making his first start here since January 19 — to the lead as the gate folded and then used his wiles to out-gun the competition, including the Greg Merton-driven Southbound Trucker, whom many thought was in a good spot for his first seasonal triumph.

After Gold Comet rambled to victory Parker was asked if he thought he would beat Southbound Trucker who had been nearly invincible last year. Parker, always a man of few words, smiled and said “I wanted to be on the front-end so I could control the race. And when I got him (Gold Comet) to the half in :59.1 I knew we’d be tough to beat from there.”

Parker and Gold Comet held off a late rally from DJ Wonder and Bruce Aldrich, Jr. to give the Ken Weckstein and Richard Rubin-owned pacer his second seasonal triumph. Southbound Trucker finished third.

Parker’s other two wins were with the Messenger-trained Winsmith Kirby and with Dream Big Ed. Winsmith Kirby, owned by Dr. Scott Woogen, stopped the timer in 1:57.1, while Dream Big Ed, the property of Gary Haas, scored in a time of 1:56.4.

With his three driving victories Parker now has a career total of 9,957 which leaves him just 43 wins from the coveted 10,000 win plateau.

— John Manzi

Unusual finish at Plainridge

Marlborough, MA — The unusal happened in Tuesday’s third race at Plainridge Racecourse. All seven horses finished in numerical order.

Kim Crawford N and Beyond Say crossed the wire in 1:57.1 with the nod going to Kim Crawford N. They were followed to the wire in exact post position finishing order by Syrah Hanover, Andimonuts, Shuffle’s Bliss, GH Shady Lady and Melissa Ro.

The finish is a rarity for seven or more starters in harness racing.

— Jack Ginnetti

Vernon Downs presents nine races on Media Night

Vernon, NY — Defending champion trainer Jessica Okusko picked up where she left off last season by harnessing seven winners in nine races as Vernon Downs presented its first qualifying program of 2010 on Tuesday night.

Okusko, who began conditioning her husband’s (Howard Okusko, Jr.) highly-regarded stable in 2007, got a victory from the pacer Fox Valley Snaffle in Tuesday’s first race, and then concluded the Media Night offering with a victory from the popular local side-wheeler Smoky Bonz. Her other first-place finishers included Unshakeable in the second race, Tip The Tide in the fourth, Bet The Ranch in the fifth, Electronic Chip in the sixth and Bet On Roulette in the seventh.

The Joe Nassimos trained and driven pacer Blueridge Betty recorded the evening’s fastest mile, a 1:57 effort in race three.

Qualifying driver Josh Kinney chalked up four winners during the evening, while Howard Okusko, Jr. secured three scores.

Vernon will begin its 90-card campaign on Friday night, April 16. The track’s 57th season will continue through November 27.

— Jim Moran