by harness racing publicists across North America
The Sunday (July 23) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Tioga Downs, The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Dresden Raceway and Hawthorne.
Simons wins five at Tioga
Nichols, NY — Andreios Kardia (Aaron Byron) wins an action packed Tioga Downs Open Handicap ($12,000) on Sunday afternoon (July 23). Leading driver Mike Simons would win five times.
Golden Gun (John MacDonald) would take the lead into the first quarter. Fireyourguns (Scott Coulter), would then take command and lead into the half. Andreios Kardia (Badlands Hanover) would go first-over on the back stretch and take over at three-quarters.

Fred Brown photo
Andreios Kardia wins the Tioga Downs feature on Sunday.
Owned by Ina Madill and trained by Jeff Byron, the 7-year-old would open up by two at the top of the strecth and hold on after a late charge by Time Out I’m Tired (Jim Marohn Jr). Andreios Kardia ($9.30) would finish the mile in 1:50.3. Time Out I’m Tired (Artiscape) would finish second with Bettorsluckystreak taking third.
Mike Simons would get victories with Y S Joe ($13.60), Rebel Jet ($5.70), A Breath Of Fresh Art ($3.00), No Bad Dreams ($3.30), and would win number five with M G Home Run ($7.40).
He now has 56 wins at Tioga Downs for the season.
One True Friend was victorious in the special non-betting Racing Under Saddle (RUS) race at Tioga.
The lady riders put on a great non-betting performance at the Nichols, N.Y. track on Sunday. One True Friend (Dream Vacation) went gate-to-wire putting up the fractions :30.1, 1:00.2, 1:30.3, 2:03.3.
Admirable Hanover (Vanessa Karlewicz) would follow the whole way to finish second. Railroad Lane (Michelle Miller) finished third. Iron WIll (Heather Reese) came in fourth. Boy Can She Fly (Codie Smith) was fifth with Stirling Accord (Sasha Moczulski) finishing sixth.
There will be no live racing at Tioga Downs on Friday (July 28) due to a 38 Special concert. Live racing returns on Saturday (July 29) with a post time of 6:50 p.m.
For more information go to www.tiogadowns.com.
— by John Horne
Pocono
On Sunday night Rose Run Parker returned to The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, and he promptly ran his local scorecard to two straight wins and three triumphs in his last five starts with a 1:53.1 victory in the $20,000 featured trot. Driver Matt Kakaley hustled the Jailhouse Jesse gelding to command after the quarter, and the winner of $878,865 posted identical halves of :56.3 while in control. Double L Lindy, coming off a check-earning effort in the Hambletonian Maturity, was second, 1-1/2 lengths behind the winner and a neck ahead of third-place Celebrity Pegasus. Rose Run Parker’s current form skein at The Downs mirrors a lifetime fondness for finishing first; the 6-year-old has now taken 44 of his 74 lifetime starts, just shy of 60 percent. Ron Burke trains the veteran for the powerful combine of Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi.
Dresden Raceway
Pull The Shade and Garrett Rooney dominate din the final of the Mark Austin Pacing series after winning the first two legs and then taking the final in 1:59.1. The 3-year-old Dragon Again filly got away third and as Action Town and Donnie Rankin set the fractions of :28.3 to the quarter and hit the half in :58.3. Rooney had Pull The Shade moving first-up just before the half and took the lead at three-quarters in 1:28.2, never looking back for the win. Pull The Shade is owned by Sherri Abbott of Windsor and Steve Roberts is the conditioner. Step In My Groove and Nick Steward finished third. The late closing series for maidens was in honor of former trainer Mark Austin who passed away suddenly in 2014. Austin was known for training such horses as Fool Me Once and Sparky Mark but was a fixture at Dresden in the early years as he helped break trotting legend A Worthy Lad who never lost on Canadian soil and at Dresden had overnighters such as Oscarsson and Hosit The Colours. Austin’s widow Julie was on hand along with daughters Paige and Paula to give an engraved stop watch to winning driver Rooney and a bag of carrots to Pull The Shade. Rooney had a big day as he notch five winner’s to give him 25 victories on the season and a huge lead in the dash standings. Tyler Borth had one winner on the day and is second in the standings with 15 wins whole Steward is third with nine wins. The handle at Dresden Raceway was C$26,842 including C$2,613 that was bet off track.
Hawthorne
Sunday night at Hawthorne featured Illinois-bred juvenile trotters. The 2-year-old filly trotters took to the track in two divisions of the Fox Valley Flan stakes while 11 juvenile colts and geldings were featured in leg two of the Kadabra stakes. Race two on the Sunday evening card was the first division of the Fox Valley Flan as a field of seven lined up. Favored was Trotting Grace with Kyle Husted driving. At the start, E L Miss Kaibra took control, setting slow early fractions of :31.4 and 1:03.3 to the half. In the turn, Husted moved with Trotting Grace and quickly took over and opened up. After three-quarters in 1:33, Trotting Grace had gained a five length advantage into the stretch and won well clear. The final time for the mile was 2:01.1. E L Miss Kaibra held second while Lous Silver Star finished third. Trotting Grace is owned by Bill Wright, Mystical Maker Farms, and Steve Searle and is trained by Steve Searle. Race five was the second division of the Fox Valley Flan with a field of eight. Leaving for the lead was Sunny Sasha as she made the quarter in :30.1. On the backside, Sunny Sasha led the field through the half in 1:00.4. On the turn, Good Design moved to challenge through three-quarters in 1:31.4. In the lane, Good Design maintained her lead and drew clear, winning by four lengths. Longshot Frontier Jackie rallied to finish second while Maui Mama was third. Final time for the mile was 2:00.3. Good Design is owned by Mr. Lynn Wilfong and trained by Brett Wilfong. Race seven saw the Illinois-bred juvenile colts and geldings on the track as a field of 11 contested leg two of the Kadabra Stakes. Favored was True Detective with Casey Leonard driving. Making the lead early after numerous horses broke stride was the favorite as he cruised through the opening quarter in :30.4. On the backside, True Detective held his lead, passing the half in 1:02. After the comfortable second quarter, True Detective felt some pressure from Vic’s Pizza in the turn. After three-quarters in 1:32.1, Leonard roused True Detective and he responded, opening up and drawing clear late to win going away. Vic’s Pizza held second while Fox Valley Strpwr finished third. The final time for the mile was 2:00.3. True Detective is owned by Dr. Patrick Graham and trained by Curt Grummel.