Hamburg, NY – Utopia Blue Chip ($7.16) found the front end journey to her liking on a rainy Wednesday afternoon (April 29) as she splashed and dashed her way to the victory in Buffalo Raceway’s featured $15,500 Open Pace for the fillies and mares. She beat the heavily favored Think Of Galaxies by two lengths in 1:57.0 over the sloppy track while Elegant Woman A finished in third.
After a brief tussle with Ladycorona in the early stages of the race, Utopia Blue Chip (Dale Spence) got to the lead and posted sensible fractions of :29.1 and :59.2 through the opening half.
Think Of Galaxies (Brett MacDonald) went first over around the clubhouse turn the second time and brought Elegant Woman A (Drew Monti) along for the ride. Utopia Blue Chip in the meantime continued to cut the mile, hitting the three-quarter marker in 1:57.0.
It appeared Utopia Blue Chip was going to have company down the lane as Think Of Galaxies and Elegant Woman A fanned out across the track in the drive for the wire. But Utopia Blue Chip kept herself clean and was steady to the finish line as Think Of Galaxies and Elegant Woman A saw their timid rallies stall out.
Leased and trained by Spence, it was the third victory in 16 appearances on the year for the 6-year-old Utopia Blue Chip (Sweet Lou-Reign On Me.) The win jumped her seasonal bankroll to $27,687 and to $247,016 lifetime.
David McNeight III enjoyed a stellar afternoon as he completed the program with four driving victories while Kevin Cummings and Monti finished with doubles. Rachelle Mungillo had a pair of training scores.
Racing will resume on Friday afternoon with an 11-race card set. The featured event will be the $30,000 finals of the April Reins Claiming Series which is scheduled as the eighth race.
Also, there’s a special noon post time for live racing at Buffalo Raceway on Saturday as 12 races will be conducted before the Kentucky Derby. The $15,500 Open Pace and Trot will be contested as the seventh and eighth races respectively.
For more information including the latest news, upcoming promotions, entries, results and race replays, go to www.buffaloraceway.com