There was a little bit of everything for the betting public at Buffalo Raceway on a gorgeous Wednesday afternoon (May 10) with long shots, favourites and mid range prices. There were five winners that paid double digits on the 11-race program while three were victorious as the post time favourites.
A pair of upsets came in the two featured events for the fillies and mares. Imprincessgemma A notched an $18.80 victory in the $15,500 Open Pace for the ladies while earlier in the program, Carbon Cider pulled a $21 surprise in the $11,500 race for the distaff pacers.
The main event saw Imprincessgemma A (Kevin Cummings) alertly take the top from the six post. Approaching the opening quarter mile, it appeared that Bank The Win (David McNeight III) was going to try and regain the advantage but Imprincessgemma A snuffed out that effort.
With fractions of :28, :57.2 and 1:25.4, Imprincessgemma A proved to be much too powerful down the stretch for the others and impressively drew off by four lengths in a seasonal best of 1:54.1. Bank The Win was able to hold on for second-place honours with the heavily favoured Filly Speaks (Kyle Cummings) finishing in third.
Owned by Elite Harness Racing LLC and trained by Shawn McDonough, nine-year-old Imprincessgemma A (Village Jolt-Melody Strike) earned her fourth win in nine starts this season. The victory moved her 2023 earnings to $26,695 and lifetime bankroll to $535,644.
Another surprise came as Carbon Cider (Jim Morrill Jr.) bided her time behind the pacesetting Escape The House then roared through the passing lane to post a 1-1/2 length triumph in 1:57.1 over the fast track. It was the fourth win in the past five starts for Carbon Cider.
Off the starting gate, Carbon Cider managed to grab the early advantage from the seven post but Escape The House (Brett Macdonald) took back the top approaching the first marker. Putting up splits of :29.2, :58.2 and 1:28, Escape The House tried to 'escape' with the win but Carbon Cider dipped into the lightning lane and blew on by. Summer Slash (Ray Fisher Jr.) showed a strong rally in the drive to the finish line and grabbed second with Escape The House relegated back to third.
Co-owned by Anthony Evgenikos and Michael De Save, the five-year-old Carbon Cider (Rockin Image-Nutmegs Cider) is trained by Joseph Chindano Jr. The victory jumped her winnings to $20,175 this year and $82,534 lifetime.
Others notching big number wins on the card included Tell Kadia ($29.60), Winning Words ($13.20) and Santana Beach ($49.60).
Morrill Jr. and Kevin Cummings each had three driving wins on the day while McDonough got a training triple.
Racing will return on Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. with a 12-race card slated.
(Buffalo Raceway)