It was a long journey around the Buffalo Raceway half-mile oval for Little Joke on Wednesday night (March 7), but the end result was well worth the trip as the 1-to-9 heavy favourite showed plenty of stamina in winning the featured $9,500 Open Pace for mares.

Being parked for most of the mile, Little Joke ($2.30) managed to wear down the pace-setting Voltina in the lane and claim a half-length decision in 1:56.2 over a sloppy track.

The victory by Little Joke was the first of five wins on the 10-race program for Billy Davis Jr.

Starting from the five post, Little Joke squared off with Voltina for top honours to the opening quarter in 28.3. After relinquishing the lead from there, Little Joke still stalked the stubborn Voltina (John Cummings Jr.) on the outside until finally getting the lead in deep stretch. Classy Lane Rose (Drew Monti) took third.

It was the second win in four appearances in 2018 for Little Joke (Bettors Delight-Town Joke). The victory upped her seasonal earnings to $12,835 and $170,085 lifetime. The six-year-old mare is co-owned by Vogel & Wags Nags Stable and Jack Rice. She is conditioned by Maria Rice, who completed the evening with a training triple.

Monti finished the night with two driving wins while trainer JD Perrin had a pair of victories.

Racing will resume on Saturday night with a 12-race card scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

(Buffalo Raceway)