There was little suspense in the top trotting event at Buffalo Raceway on Saturday, March 16 as the Canadian-campaigned Power And Grace was just that, powerful and graceful in rolling to the easy win in the $18,919 Open Trot, one of two features on the evening.

Firing off to the early lead, Power And Grace (Drew Monti) collected splits of :29.3, :58.4 and 1:29. Power And Grace, the lone lady in the race, showed the boys how it was done in going gate to wire in 1:57.2. She beat HP Running Mass (David McNeight III) by 3-3/4 lengths with Good Boy (Ray Fisher Jr.) settling for third.

Power And Grace, a nine-year-old mare with 60 career wins, is owned by Hartel Maintenance Inc., Lormer McClure, Brett MacDonald and Reg Higgs. Trained by Ronald MacDonald, Power And Grace (Holiday Road-Mark Of Hanover) has now been victorious in four of eight starts in 2024, earning $30,936 and pushing her lifetime bankroll to $527,080. A back-to-back winner in her first two stateside starts at Buffalo this month, she paid $3.20 to win.

Ten-year-old pacer Lip Reader A hasn't had much experience racing in the United States with just two pari-mutuel starts since arriving from Australia. But that inexperience didn't matter as he posted a career-best 1:54 in winning the co-featured $18,919 Open Pace, beating Villiam by 2-3/4 lengths

Lip Reader A, with a victory at Yonkers on Feb. 20 in her United States debut and a hard luck third-place finish by three-quarters of a length at Buffalo Raceway on March 2, was ready for battle against the top class pacers.

Villiam, starting from the rail, took early command with splits of :28.4, :58 and 1:26.1. Lip Reader A sat in fourth place and began the first-over journey approaching the final marker. Turning for home, Lip Reader A (Drew Monti) started to pull away from Villiam (Joseph Chindano Jr.) and was clear by 2-3/4 at the wire. Umberto (David McNeight III) took the show position.

The win was the second in three tries in 2024 for Lip Reader A (Sportswriter-Strike Line), who is owned by Vogel & Wags Nags LLC, Team Rice Racing and Dr. Michael Miller, and trained by Maria Rice. The win upped his earnings to $22,524 on the season and $195,057 lifetime.

Racing will resume on Wednesday afternoon with a 14-race card set for 2:30 p.m. There is a $1,655 carryover in the Pick 5, which starts in the second race.

(With files from Buffalo Raceway)