HAMBURG, NY – Stranger Things literally let Daylight Rush do the dirty work over the sloppy track at Buffalo Raceway on Saturday night (July 17) but cleaned up in the end with a stunning $57 victory in the $11,500 Class AA pace.

The second longest shot on the board at 27-1, Stranger Things used a pocket-sitting trip to win and pay $57 Saturday night at Buffalo Raceway. Photos by Bill Burke.

With the heavily favored Daylight Rush (David McNeight III) cutting the splits with fractions of :29.1, :58 and 1:27.2 over the rain-soaked half mile oval, Stranger Things (Kyle Cummings) followed along in the pocket.

Turning for home, Daylight Rush tried to hang on but Stranger Things and Art Scene (Shawn McDonough) converged on the leader. Things were tight at the end with a three-way photo needed to call the winner. Stranger Things finished getting a head in front of the hard-charging Art Scene while Daylight Rush had to settle for a tough luck third.

Stranger Things (Western Terror-Southwind Prairie) is conditioned by Angelo Nappo and is co-owned by Virginia Schoeffel, Kathy Schoeffel and Jim Reuther. The 5-year-old gelding has now won four of 22 starts on the season, earning $24,049 and $103,460 in his career.

In the $10,500 Class A Pace, Darbie’s Ideal ($2.50) found the front end to be the ‘ideal’ place to be as he was victorious over Gallery Opening (Kevin Cummings) by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:55.4. Loaded Deck (McDonough) took the show position.

After a skirmish with Major Authority and Gallery Opening to the first panel in :28.3, Darbie’s Ideal (Ray Fisher Jr.) was able to get to the lead. The rest of the race boiled down to see if anyone could gun down Darbie’s Ideal but the remaining seven entrants came up shooting blanks.

Owned by the Swift Racing Stable and trained by Ryan Swift, Darbie’s Ideal is a 4-year-old horse who has posted three victories in 12 attempts in 2021. His bankroll increased to $19,665 on the year and $76,497 lifetime.

The season ending awards for the 2021 campaign were announced at Buffalo Raceway during the finale.

Morrill Jr., who had a double on the night, was the ‘Driver Of The Meet’ as he won 88 races while Gerry Sarama was the Trainer Of The Meet’ as he collected 63 victories. It was the first training title for Sarama at Buffalo Raceway.

The ‘Pacer Of The Meet’ went to R J P, ‘Trotter Of The Meet’ was Southern Palms while Protect Blue Chip claimed  ‘Mare Of The Meet’ honors.

Racing is expected to resume in Jan. 2022.

For more information including the latest news, race replays, entries and results, go to www.buffaloraceway.com.