Hamburg, NY — Valentine Express ($7.40) hopped aboard the ‘express’ in Buffalo Raceway $16,000 Open Trot on Friday afternoon (July 18) as he equaled the track record for aged (5+) gelded trotters with a three-length victory over Makes Me Charlie in 1:56.0 over the lightning-fast track. He tied the current mark of 1:56.0 set by Fox Valley Veto (Billy Davis Jr.) on July 20, 2018.
Besides equaling the track mark, Valentine Express (Drew Monti) easily beat his seasonal best of 1:57.3 that he notched on June 27.
Off the starting gate, Valentine Express played give and go with Big Baller Beane to the opening panel in a leisurely :29.4. But the action picked up after that as Valentine Express rolled through splits of :59.0 and 1:27.4.
Down the lane, Valentine Express kept her head in the game and used a :28.1 final stanza to register the impressive win. Makes Me Charlie (Mike Caprio) had no answers late and held on for second place with Dealin With Dewey (Brett MacDonald) taking third.
Owned by the Rock 01 Stable Inc. and trained by Jerry Nugent Jr., Valentine Express (Chapter Seven-Cantala) has won six times in 15 starts. The triumph increased his seasonal bankroll to $47,877 and to $300,054 lifetime.
In the $15,500 Open I-II Pace for the fillies and mares, Mary Kat ($7.00) remained almost ‘purrfect’ as she collected her fourth win in her last five starts with a three-quarter length victory over Firstofanera in 1:55.3. Her lone loss during the recent streak was a narrow head setback to Rightfully Mine on July 4.
As per usual, Mary Kat (David McNeight III) was able to set up shop on the front end and dictate the tempo with fractions of :28.2, :57.3 and 1:27.0.
But turning for home, there was a wall of horses behind Mary Kat as Firstofanera (Brett MacDonald), Summer Slash (Ray Fisher Jr.) and Morgans All In (Kevin Cummings) were in position to take a run at the pace setter. Their attempts all came up short though as Mary Kat was able to withstand the mounting pressure and notch the half-length victory. Firstofanera took the place spot with Summer Slash rallying on the far outside for third place honors.
Owned by Lucky Label Stables LLC, the 6-year-old Mary Kat (Bettor’s Delight-Nanny Withafanny) has won 10 times in 24 appearances in 2025. Trained by Taylor Fritz, Mary Kat has earned $69,188 on the season and $364,916 in her career.
Brett MacDonald and Shawn MacDonald each had doubles in the sulky while Taylor Fritz had three training victories with Ronald MacDonald posting two wins.
The final two live harness racing programs for the 2025 season will take place this weekend with a 12-race program on Saturday (July 19) at 2:30 p.m. with the finale commencing at noon on Sunday (July20) with nine races scheduled. Before Saturday’s post, Buffalo Raceway will announce the various category winners for the 2025 meet.
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