Racing Roundup: Tioga Downs holds ‘Old Style’ sulky race
June 21, 2013,from harness publicists across North America
Friday’s (June 21) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Tioga Downs, Yonkers Raceway, Northfield Park, Saratoga Casino and Raceway and Buffalo Raceway.
Tioga Downs holds ‘Old Style’ sulky race
Fred J. Brown photo
If I Didn’t Care won Friday’s ‘Old Style’ sulky race at Tioga Downs with Greg Merton driving.
Nichols, NY — Tioga Downs held its first “Old Style” sulky race on Friday night where the horses racing in the fourth race of the night were restricted to use older style sulkies which ended up being eight Tel-Star bikes. The race favorite, If I Didn’t Care (Greg Merton) didn’t care what race bike she was hooked to as Merton put If I Didn’t Care on the engine through fractions of 27.2, 56.3, and 1:24.4 before drawing away from the field with ease in 1:53.4. The margin of victory was 3-1/2 lengths as If I Didn’t Care recorded her third win of the year for the Rock & Roll Stable of Chicago, Illinois and trainer Rick Dane.
In the $10,000 featured Miracle Mile 1 pace on Friday night, Fair Voltage and Greg Merton used a second-over cover trip and turned it into a 1:53.1 score. It was the third win at Tioga Downs this year for the 5-year-old daughter of Village Jolt-My True Art for Charles Lewis and trainer James Clouser Jr. Itstimeformetofly (Phil Fluet) finished second, while Haggin Oaks (James Kennedy) hung on for third.
Aaron Byron and Greg Merton each posted driving triples on the night’s ten race card, while Keith Kamann recorded a driving double.
— Dustin Ross
Yonkers Raceway
Yonkers Raceway’s pair of Friday night $46,000 co-features, Open Handicaps for pacers and trotters, were won by millionairess-in-waiting Krispy Apple (Brian Sears, $2.60) and Super Manning (Sears again, $5.20). For Krispy Apple, a 5-year-old daughter of Western Ideal trained by PJ Fraley for co-owners Bamond Racing and Joseph Davino, the 1:53 mile was her sixth win in a dozen seasonal starts (career earnings now $984,468). There was a triple dead-heat for place. The featured trot was a duel between outside assignees Super Manning and Monsignor Flan (Brent Holland). Super Manning owned a length lead into the lane, then kept Monsignor Flan at hoof’s length, winning by a neck in 1:54.3. Lorenzo Dream finished third. For Super Manning, a 5-year-old homebred Diamond Goal gelding owned by Joe Pennacchio and trained by Brandon Todd, it was his fourth win in 17 ’13 starts.
Northfield Park
Pebble Creek was first to cross the wire in the $6,000 Fillies and Mares Open Pace in the opening race on Friday (June 21) at Northfield Park. She is trained by Virgil Morgan Jr. for owner Debbie Bird of Harwood, Ontario, Canada. Morgan listed Wyatt Irvine to drive. Pebble Creek (Modern Art-Hayser Creek-Threefold) started from post-five and sat the pocket though ambitious fractions of :27.3, :56.3 and 1:24.4. Irvine pulled the mare in the stretch and she paced ½-length better than her competition, stopping the timer in 1:53.2. The mile time represents a new lifetime mark for the 6-year-old pacer. Completing the race were It Must Be Magic, Posey Patch, Miss Two Punch, Fly To The Angels, Make A Call and Osborne’s Sweeper. Pebble Creek now has 11 career win and earnings of $137,845. She returned $11.40 to win. Friday’s win represents the 132nd training win this year for Virgil Morgan Jr. Morgan’s win tally ranks him as the fourth winningest trainer in North America. Only Ronald Burke (468), Rene Allard (211) and Richard Moreau (141) have more training wins so far in 2013 than Virgil Morgan Jr. Kurt Sugg drove five winners.
Saratoga Casino and Raceway
Coraggioso won his first local Open on Friday night at Saratoga Casino and Raceway. Last year’s 3-year-old colt New York Sire Stakes champion won a pair of Vernon Downs Opens this spring and cruised to victory at the Spa in Friday’s $20,000 feature. Wally Hennessey piloted Coraggioso (Conway Hall) for trainer Maureen Salino and owners Tom Durkin and Joe Spadaro. The 4-year-old marched out to the lead in a quick :28.2 and never faced an anxious moment before stopping the timer in 1:54.4, matching the win time of Mikey Hanover from last week’s Open Trot as the fastest of the year for any trotter at the track. Another former Sire Stakes star A Penny Earned (Shawn Gray) was the feature’s runner-up while Bound For Fame (Bruce Aldrich Jr) earned the show spot.
Buffalo Raceway
Mythical Hall, a 5-year-old Andover Hall gelding, won the $11,000 Open Trot in 1:57.3, for owner Mark J Jakubik, of West Seneca NY, here at Buffalo Raceway Friday night (June 21), over a fast track. It was the fifth win in nineteen attempts this season for Mythical Hall. Driver Ron Beback, Jr., put Mythical Hall ($7.00), the 5/2 second choice in the betting, on the lead, and he set all the fractions in the race, :28.4, :57.3, and 1:27.4 to the three-quarter marker. A :29.4 last quarter-mile put the winner 1-1/2 lengths ahead of second place finisher, Rocky Boy (Jacques Beaudoin) at the finish line. Berosus (Drew Monti) came in third. Trained by J. D. Perrin, the $5,500 share of the winning purse put Mythical Hall’s season’s earnings at $50,072, and $313,668 lifetime. It was his 14th win in 65 lifetime starts.