from harness publicists across North America

Sunday’s (July 6) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Tioga Downs, Saratoga Casino and Raceway, Running Aces, Vernon Downs, Dresden Raceway and Hippodrome 3R.

War Cry Hall holds sway in top Tioga trot

Nichols, NY — After controlling the terms throughout, War Cry Hall ($3.80) gave everything he had in the final hundred yards to prevail in Sunday afternoon’s $14,000 Miracle Mile 1 trot at Tioga Downs.

Fred J. Brown photo

War Cry Hall held off all comers in Sunday’s trotting feature at Tioga Downs.

The 5-year-old gelded son of Cash Hall wasted no time achieving the lead, sprinting clear of Marion Mayflower (Aaron Byron) and maintaining a steady, yet strong pace through a :56.3 half-mile.

On the backstretch, In Your Room (Mike Simons) commenced a first-over rally, pushing War Cry Hall to his limit on the far turn. Through the stretch, Howard Parker called upon War Cry Hall for every last ounce of energy, and the favorite did not disappoint, digging in to stave off not only the persistent In Your Room, but a belated stand-side charge from Stitch In Time (Tyler Buter), who rallied strongly to take second.

Jim Raymer trains War Cry Hall for the Harbor Racing Stable, LLC.

Live racing returns to Tioga on Monday (July 7), with the first of 11 races on the special weeknight card scheduled for 6:15 p.m. (EDT).

— James Witherite

Saratoga Casino and Raceway
Road Bet (Bettor’s Delight) made her local debut a winning one in Sunday afternoon’s feature at Saratoga Casino and Raceway. Trained by Kyle Spagnola, Road Bet was assigned the rail in the $17,000 Fillies and Mares Open and utilized it to her advantage by sorting things out early and wound up cutting the mile. Frank Coppola Jr. sat behind the 4-year-old mare who had an open length lead throughout the race before recording a 2-1/4 length victory in 1:53. Road Bet was the public’s 9-5 choice and got the best of Campanile (Austin Siegelman), who was the runner-up for the second straight week in the Open, and It’s A Miracle (Bruce Aldrich Jr.), who hit the board for the eighth consecutive start. Road Bet became the fourth different mare to win the Sunday feature in the last four weeks.

Running Aces
R Gauwitz Hanover won the $10,000 Open Pace at Running Aces Sunday night to become the first double winner of the weekly feature in the first six weeks of the meet. The 5-year-old Modern Art gelding, who lowered his lifetime record to 1:51.3 with the victory, had also won in week four of the meet for owner Laurie Patistas. Rick Magee was in the sulky this time around as trainer Jason Ryan had an uncoupled stablemate, Silver Spir, in the race and finished second by three-quarters of a length. Smarter Yet (Kim Pluta), last week’s winner, was a close third. Ryan also trained and reined another swift winner when Threestepstoheaven captured a $9,000 undercard event which featured a mix of conditioned horses and $12,500 claimers. Anthony Artuso owns the son of Rambaran who just edged It’s Getting Hairy (Rob Dinning) and Canadian Touch (Steve Wiseman) in 1:52. Owner-trainer Jesse DeLong also had a nice night, winning back-to-back races. Mister Virgin (Nick Roland) captured a $5,000 conditioned-claimer in 1:54.3 and I’m Blue Too (Steve Wiseman) followed up with a 1:53.2 tally in a $6,000 conditioned and $7,500 claimers race. The driving star of the night was Rick Magee, who won the final four races on the program, including the Open. The 36-year-old Wisconsin native now has 24 wins at Running Aces in 2014 to secure his fifth place position in the dash standings and narrow the gap on the leaders. Defending champion Nick Roland has the slight edge with 33 wins, followed by both Jason Ryan and Steve Wiseman with 31, Tim Maier with 26 and Magee with 24.

Vernon Downs
The 1-4 favorite, Tell Us More (Tell All-Liberated Leah), scored a convincing win in the $8,000 featured race at Vernon Downs on Sunday afternoon. Tell Us More (Roman Lopez) moved into the lead entering the first turn and ended up leading at every quarter- mile mark. The fractions were very solid, :27 for the quarter, :56.2 for the half, 1:24.3 for three-quarters, and a final time of 1:52. Gallic Warrior (Rick Plano) finished second after sitting third throughout the early stages. You Bet Your Glass (Frank Davis) made a nice first-over move entering the final turn, but ended up getting caught outside through the stretch and had to settle for third. The complete order of finish was Tell Us More, Gallic Warrior, You Bet Your Glass, Some Or Lis, Donna’s Scape, and Firethorn. Buckeye Baddler was a scratch (lame). Tell Us More is owned by Michael Casalino Jr. and is trained by Jordan Hope. In addition, the Sunday card at Vernon Downs featured a wild six-horse photo finish in the fifth race. The photo ended up being won by Steuben Ruthless, sent off at 9-1 and driven by Rick Plano. R Blue Moon Rising was second and Team Edward finished third. There was a dead heat for the fourth position between the favorite, Market Force, and Willies Big Mac. Dragon’s Breath finished off the photo in sixth. The win was the second straight for Steuben Ruthless at Vernon Downs. The final time was 1:54.2, credited to each of the horses in the photo. Steuben Ruthless is owned by David Fisher and trained by Mary Fisher. Driver Jimmy Whittemore continues to close in on milestone win 1,000. He had two winners on the Sunday program at Vernon Downs to increase his career win total to 993. Whittemore won the second race with Party With Artie and the sixth race with I Do Hanover.

Dresden Raceway
Chris Johnston was the man to beat at Dresden Raceway Sunday as he scored three winners. The Sombra, Ontario horseman notched his first winner in the fifth race while driving Wallet Sniffer. Johnston guided Wallet Sniffer from off the pace for a win in 2:01.2. The 5-year-old Camotion horse is owned by Don McMurran and trained by Tom Bain. Johnston’s second trip to the winner’s circle was in the eighth race behind Prettysheissheis. The 7-year-old Million Dollar Cam mare is owned by Lisa Spenser while Johnston is the conditioner. Prettysheissheis went wire-to-wire in 1:59.4. Johnston wrapped up the card of racing with his third win of the day at the controls of Brandon CS. The 5-year-old Chocolatier gelding is owned and trained by Janice Annett and co-owned by Marjorie Simmons. Brandon CS paced the mile in 2:02.1. Alfie Carroll had two winners on the day with Billy White Sell and Cat Four.

Hippodrome 3R
Although the charted lines may show that he won by 4-1/2 lengths, it was certainly no easy task for Histoire Eternelle to post his fourth straight win at the Hippodrome 3R on Sunday afternoon. The 5-year-old gelded son of Shanghai Phil and driver Marie Claude Auger had to do it the hard way, getting parked on the outside the entire one mile race, but they not only got the job done, but did it in impressive fashion. Usually racing on the lead early on, Auger left from post seven in the eighth race feature but there were already two horses on the lead in the front of him. Jolts Prayer and driver Pascal Berube went to the early lead but then gave way to Walbert and driver Stephne Brosseau. And it seemed that Brosseau and Walbert did not want anyone else to pass them by, not even Histoire Eternelle. Past the opening quarter in :27.3, Histoire Eternelle was stuck on the outside. Then past the half-mile marker in :57, Walbert was still on the lead and Histoire Eternelle was parked first-over on the outside and that order was unchanged at the three-quarters in 1:26.3. Then the time to play games was over and on the final turn Auger and Histoire Eternelle were able to clear to the lead and then they opened up on the field to win going away in 1:56.1. Cevina De Chakrika (Melane Plourde) was second and Walbert held for third place. It was the fifth win in nine starts for Histoire Eternelle who is trained by Eric Valiquette and is owned and bred by Guy Corbel. He paid $2.40 to win. It was the second straight training win for Eric Valiquette, who in the prior seventh race, saw his Maxmuscle post his third straight win, leading from start to finish in 2:00.