Modern Day Clyde gunned down the field and set a national season’s mark to boot when he captured a division of Tuesday’s Dennis Sheehan Memorial Pace

at The Meadows.

The other $15,000 splits in the opening leg of the event for three and four-year-old colt and gelding pacers went to Border Fighting and Buckeye Blitz, who provided Dave Palone and trainer Ron Burke with Sheehan Memorial doubles.

The series honours the late Dennis Sheehan, a longtime horseman who campaigned his stable at The Meadows and in Ohio.

Last year’s runner-up in the Maryland Sires Stakes championship, Modern Day Clyde went to the lead for Tony Hall but yielded past the quarter to Goggles Paisano. With that comfortable pocket trip, Modern Day Clyde cut down Goggles Paisano in the lane, drawing off to down that rival by 1-3/4 lengths, with Martini Twist third. The time of 1:53.3 is the fastest this year by a three-year-old gelding on a five-eighths-mile track.

Randy Bendis trains Modern Day Clyde, a son of Bonnie And Clyde-Ashlee Lyn who has won five of nine lifetime starts, for Joe and Joann Thomson.

Border Fighting went wire-to-wire for his score in 1:54.1 - a national season’s mark before Modern Day Clyde bettered it an hour later. The pocket-sitting Dunkirk Beach was second, with American Rage third in his first start of the year. Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Joseph DiScala, Jr. and Cynthia Massari own the I Am A Fool-Magic Moments gelding.

Buckeye Blitz copped his division with a stretch rally that carried him to victory in 1:54.1. He was two lengths better than Fall Bliss, with Spirits Gone Wild third. Burke Racing Stable LLC owns the three-year-old Ponder-Miss Buckeye Dart gelding.

In the $22,500 Filly & Mare Preferred Trot, Digital Pix waited patiently behind the dueling leaders, then brushed through the lane to score for driver Dan Rawlings and owner/trainer David Wade. Careless Love edged Rose Run Keepsake for place. The time of 1:55.3 knocked two seconds from the career mark of the seven-year-old daughter of SJs Photo-Royal Yankee.

Palone drove five winners on the 15-race card.

(The Meadows)