The front end was the place to be on a rainy Wednesday afternoon, June 26 at Buffalo Raceway as Super Duper Cooper ($4) and Sister Mary Maude ($4.20) captured their respective New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) races for three-year-old trotters in wire-to-wire fashion.

In the $164,110 split for colts and geldings, Super Duper Cooper (Jason Bartlett) got the early jump on the field and marched out fractions of :29.2, :59.2 and 1:29.4 over a sloppy track. Keep Asking (Tyler Buter) sat in the pocket in second while Victor Laszlo (Mark MacDonald) was first-over and in contention with a final panel to go. But Super Duper Cooper stayed strong on the front and held back timid rallies from Keep Asking and Victor Laszlo — who had to settle for second and third, respectively — to win by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:57.4.

John Butenschoen trains Super Duper Cooper for Timothy Drag, James Crawford and Carl Austin Jr. The victory, the third in six attempts in 2024, jumped the E L Titan gelding’s seasonal earnings to $137,323 and career bankroll to $237,434.

In the $160,274 event for the ladies, Sister Mary Maude (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) let Sadbirdstillsing enjoy the top for a few steps before retaking the advantage nearing the opening quarter marker. After posting splits of :29.3, :59.4 and 1:29.3, Sister Mary Maude was looking for any threats heading down the long Buffalo Raceway home stretch. None materialized.

With Sadbirdstillsing (Buter) and Winning Alliance (Todd Ratchford) nearly two lengths behind at the top of the lane, Sister Mary Maude easily stayed on task and rolled to a convincing 2-1/2-length decision in 1:57.4.

The triumph was the first win of the year after five straight second-place finishes for Sister Mary Maude (Crazy Wow-Perfect Mass), who is owned by Burke Racing Stable, William Switala, James Martin and Weaver Bruscemi. The victory increased her seasonal bankroll to $158,548 and lifetime earnings to $275,944.

In the $27,397 Excelsior Series races for three-year-old colt and gelding trotters, Woweress (Buter) notched a neck victory over Pepper Wow in 1:58.1 while Tobern (John Stark Jr.) posted a $20 upset with a stunning 8-1/4-length score over Promises Met (Jim Morrill Jr.) in 1:59.1.

The bracket for the sophomore ladies saw Communion Money (Jared Bako) roll to a 9-1/4-length victory over Shirin (Hunter Myers) in 1:58.3 while Osodevious (Bartlett) topped Really Dont Care (MacDonald) in 2:01.

In the $19,178 Open Pace for fillies and mares, Flip The Script came from last to first and beat Center Attraction (James McNeight Jr.) by a mere nose in 1:57.4. Drew Monti steered the winner to the $15.60 triumph.

Racing will return on Friday, June 28 at 2:30 p.m. with 12 races scheduled. 

(With files from Buffalo Raceway)