Lease Ness Monster ($3.50) was a winner for the second straight week in the $12,000 Fillies and Mare Open Pace at Tioga Downs on Friday night (June 2).
Lease Ness Monster, who is owned by Matt and David Waltz while trained by Patti Harmon, took the lead after the first quarter for driver Mike Merton. The six-year-old Lease On Life mare was challenged in the stretch by Saratoga shipper Little Santamonica (Aaron Byron), but dug in to score the victory by a half-length in 1:51.3. Little Santamonica finished second and Betabcool N (Greg Merton) was third.
After the first month of racing at Tioga, Mike Simons leads all drivers with 21 wins coming into the night. Simons, who was the 2015 track champion and the runner-up a year ago, has a firm grip on the lead early. Jimmy Taggart Jr. is currently second, nine wins behind Simons with 12. Rick Dane Jr. of Port Jervis, New York has had a great start to the season as well with 11 wins. Tom Jackson and Jim Marohn Jr. round out the top five with 10 wins each.
Dane Jr. has seven training wins as well. He is tied for second with Tony Dinges. Linda Toscano leads all trainers with eight wins. Two of Toscano's wins came last week in one race when her entry of Avatar J and Brian J finished in a dead heat. Mike Deters, who was last year's training champion, is fourth with six wins.
Live racing returns at Tioga on Saturday with a 10-race card starting at 6:50 p.m.
(With files from Tioga Downs)