Baseball Express and Corey Braden captured the $14,000 Open Handicap trot on Friday night at Tioga Downs, despite being on the outside just after the quarter pole
.
Braden moved Baseball Express and pressured the pacesetter as Jimmy Marohn Jr. and Summertime Yankee dictated the fractions of :28.1, :58 and 1:26.1. As the field passed the three quarter pole Summertime Yankee and Marohn made a break and had to be taken inside the pylons. With Baseball Express inheriting the lead he opened up to a two length advantage at the top of the stretch and cruised home to win by a length and a quarter.
Levitys Pride and Alex Kavoleff used a two hole trip to finish second, while Lively Moment and Kyle Di Benedetto came from off the pace to take home the show money.
It was the sixth win in nineteen starts for the five-year-old son of Conway Hall-Pine Booth who is trained by Michael Deters for Kevin Burch of Springboro, Ohio. With the $7,000 winner’s share of the purse, Baseball Express increased his seasonal earnings to more than $37,000. The victory was the middle part of a driving triple on the night’s ten race card for driver Corey Braden, and gave Michael Deters a training double.
(Tioga Downs)