by harness racing publicists across North America

Friday night’s (Sept. 23) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Batavia Downs, Hollywood Dayton Raceway, Vernon Downs and Saratoga.

Snapshot Springs convincing at Batavia Downs

Batavia, NY — Fresh off a solid win in Open II company last week, Snapshot Springs moved to the top class for resident trotters and took a new lifetime mark in winning the $10,500 Open at Batavia Downs on Friday night (Sept. 23).

Paul White photo

Snapshot Springs rolls to victory in the Batavia Downs feature.

With three horses leaving off the gate, it took until the quarter-mile for the favored Kahoku (Kevin Cummings) to clear in :28.1. He then proceeded to lead the pack in single-file order to the half in :57.4. At that station, Snapshot Springs (Drew Monti) pulled first-over from fourth and motored up on the outside.

Up the backside, Snapshot Springs pulled even with Kahoku and at that point, Monti popped the plugs before they hit the three-quarters in 1:27.1. From there he cleared and opened up a two-length lead around the last turn. Then with mild urging from Monti down the lane, Snapshot Springs coasted home to a fairly easy two-length win in 1:57.

It was the seventh win of the year for Snapshot Springs ($8.40) and it enriched his 2016 earnings to $41,085 for owner/trainer Allan McCarty.

Bob Davis won both $5,000 divisions of the C.K.G. Billings races. In the trotting leg he scored a wire-to-wire win with V I P ($15.80) and in the pacing division, he went from worst to first with Helena’s Hope ($7.00).

John Cummings Jr. had a driving triple while Drew Monti and Shawn Gray scored doubles. Trainers Edgar Clarke and Jeff Amann both sent two horses to the winner’s enclosure.

Racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday night (Sept. 24) with a 6:15 p.m. post time.

— by Tim Bojarski

Hollywood Dayton Raceway

Rock The Look ran her win streak to three capturing the $15,000 Fillies and Mares Open Pace at Hollywood Dayton Raceway on Friday night (Sept. 23). The 1:51.1 clocking lowered the track record for older pacing mares at Dayton, knocking a tick off Sectionline Aqua’s previous 1:51.2 standard. The 4-year-old Rockin Image mare’s docket now includes five wins and a pair of runner-up finishes in her last seven starts for trainer Joe Putnam, who co-owns Rock The Look with the Suttons Bay Racing stable. Driver Jason Brewer was content to race last in the compact field of six through opening panels of :26.1 and :55. Just past the midway station, the winner set sail and began steadily picking off opponents one at a time. By the 1:23 third split, Rock The Look had moved up to fourth behind a first-up Watch N Be Watched (Josh Sutton) with Igottafeelinfran (Dan Noble) also in hot pursuit. At the top of the lane, those three mares fanned out for the stretch drive with Rock The Look besting runnerup Igottafeelinfran and Watch N Be Watched, who got the show dough. Sent off as the odds-on favorite based on her recent form, Rock The Look returned $3.00 to win, while the stone-cold exacta paid $11.00. Racing resumes Saturday night (Sept. 24) at Hollywood Dayton with a powerful 14-race program on tap. Excitement is building at the five-eighths mile oval as Friday (Sept. 30) approaches. That is the night the Grand Circuit stops in Dayton featuring the $150,000 Dayton Pacing Derby and the $160,000 (est.) Dayton Trotting Derby. Many of the top-rated and richest horses in North America are expected to enter, including the top ranked Wiggle It Jiggleit.

Vernon Downs

Margaret and Amy Butler’s J A T O ($3.80) seized control of the terms early and never looked back on his way to a third consecutive victory in Friday evening’s (Sept. 23) featured $10,500 Miracle Mile/Open Handicap Trot at Vernon Downs. Chris Lems put the 4-year-old Conway Hall gelding in play from the outset, pushing clear of My Lucky Word (Fern Paquet, Jr.) and Gimme the Cash (Claude Huckabone, III) through a :28.3 first quarter before easing the tempo on the backstretch. With five-sixteenths of the mile to go, 22-1 longshot Oh No Three O (Jeff Long) mounted a first-over challenge, working to within a length of J A T O at the completion of a :58.4 middle half. That one, however, leveled off at head-stretch. J A T O maintained control comfortably while hand-driven through the straight, keeping Oh No Three O a length at bay for a 1:55.2 score. Prairie Fortune (Mike Deters) showed mild staying power off second-over cover to save third on debut from Tioga. Howard Okusko trains J A T O, who remains undefeated at Vernon Downs by way of his 31st career triumph. Live racing returns to Vernon Downs on Saturday (Sept. 24) evening, with the first of 13 races due off at 6:45 p.m.

Saratoga

Velocity Vespa (I Scoot Hanover) went coast-to-coast to capture the Friday (Sept. 23) feature at Saratoga Casino Hotel. After being claimed in July by trainer Rich Banca, Velocity Vespa rattled off three consecutive wins in the Fillies and Mares Open at the Spa. The last of those victories came in a dazzling 1:51.3, a track record for a pacing mare at the Spa. The 6-year-old distaffer didn’t factor in last week’s Open despite being the odds-on favorite but returned to the winner’s circle after going coast-to-coast in Friday’s $16,000 feature. So Nice (Mark Beckwith) sat the pocket and finished second while Super Soph (Frank Coppola Jr) earned the show spot. Velocity Vespa’s 16th win of the season came over a sloppy track in 1:53.4 on Friday night. Returning $4.90 to win, Velocity Vespa, who was driven to victory by Jimmy Devaux, led an exacta and triple that came back $15.20 and $77.50, respectively. Live racing continues on Saturday night (Sept. 24) at Saratoga with a 6:45 p.m. first post.

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