by harness publicists across North America

Wednesday’s (June 11) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Buffalo Raceway and Running Aces.

Taylor Rei captures Buffalo F&M Open Pace

Hamburg, NY — Taylor Rei absolutely enjoyed watching a pair of mares battle in a speed duel on the front and then reaped the benefits of their hard work to win the $10,500 Fillies and Mares Open Pace at Buffalo Raceway on Wednesday night (June 11) in a seasonal best time of 1:54.3 over the fast track.

Real Joy (Shawn McDonough) and the parked Ugly Betty (Jack Flanigen) tussled to the opening half-mile, posting fractions of 28.0 and 56.2. Taylor Rei (Ray Fisher Jr.), who went three-wide down the backstretch, zoomed past the tiring pace-setters, hitting the three-quarter pole in 1:25.3.

In the stretch, Taylor Rei ($15.40) and Ray Fisher Jr. enjoyed the beautiful spring air in Western New York and never had to deal with any challengers, scoring a four length victory. V’La Faire (Drew Monti) finished in second while CS Kentucky (Kevin Cummings) took third place.

Taylor Rei (Cheyenne Rei-Lady Raider), owned by Jonathan Klee Racing and trained by Ryan Swift, has now registered five victories in 15 starts, producing $27,663 in earnings in 2014 and $106,065 lifetime.

— Brian J. Mazurek

Running Aces
The third time was a charm for Natural Forces as he became the third different trotter to win the weekly Open feature in as many weeks on Wednesday night. The 5-year-old Lockkeeper gelding, owned by ECS Racing LLC and Kevin St. Charles, was third in his first Minnesota start, second last week despite an early break in stride, and sailed to a 1:56.1 score in his third fray against the best trotters at the meet. Kim Pluta was the sulky sitter for trainer Ronald Merritt. Franky Provolone (Steve Wiseman) finished two lengths back in his first Open company competition this season with Northern Inferno (Rick Magee) edging Glittering Muscles (Nick Roland) for third. Quiet Charmer (Jason Ryan) picked up the final paycheck in the seven-horse field. The 1:56.1 clocking was just three-fifths of a second off Natural Forces’ lifetime best taken at The Red Mile. The ECS Racing homebred has now won 33 times in 89 career starts and boasts a bankroll north of $260,000. Seven different drivers and eight different trainers won races on the eight-race program. Rick Magee scored the lone driving double on the card.