Born A Rebel ($14.60) was in a 'rebellious' mood down the stretch in Buffalo Raceway's featured $18,904 conditioned pace on Saturday, July 13, and that never-say-die late charge carried him to a narrow victory over Egomania in a seasonal best 1:55.2 over the fast track. The favoured Soul Assassin finished in third.

Off the gate, Vernier Hanover (Shawn McDonough) took early control, but that was short-lived as Soul Assassin (Drew Monti) wasn't pleased with the pocket trip and recaptured the lead. Humming through splits of :28.1, :58 and 1:26.2, Soul Assassin was ready to be encountered down the stretch by Egomania (David McNeight III) and Born A Rebel (Kyle Swift), and it turned out to be quite a battle.

With heads turned for home, Egomania was first-over while Born A Rebel was three-wide in the dash for the line. It was a bang-bang finish with Born A Rebel putting a head in front late while Egomania was a heart-breaking second and Soul Assassin was a tough-luck third. A :28.3 last quarter proved to be the right recipe for Born A Rebel.

Owned by Melvin Fink and trained by Christopher Petrelli, the win was the third in 20 tries on the season for the six-year-old Born A Rebel (Betterthancheddar-Outlawed Beauty). The win jacked his seasonal earnings to $60,765 and to $224,766 lifetime.

Samuel Smith had three training scores on the 13-race card, extending his lead in the trainers' standings. His wins came with Bet On Blake ($21.80) in the lidlifter, Im J Bee N ($32.40) in Race 7, and Odds On Unicorn ($3.40) in the 11th race.

In Race 12, first-year trainer Ferris Hazlett earned his first career victory. Coach Wendl, whom he owns, moved out of the three-hole in the third quarter for Kyle Cummings and powered to the front, going clear by 4-1/4 lengths to win in 1:55.4. Coach Wendl, a five-year-old Rockin Image-Delta Dawn Hanover gelding, was making his sixth start for Hazlett.

Hazlett made his training debut on May 31 at Buffalo with Coach Wendl. The East Bethany, N.Y.-based conditioned now has a win and three show finishes in eight starts.

Kevin Cummings showed the way for the drivers with three victories while Monti, McNeight III, and Swift all got doubles. 

Racing will resume on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. with an 11-race program set. The New York Sire Stakes will be in the spotlight once again with the two-year-old colt-and-gelding trotters squaring off in the fifth race with $106,400 USD on the line. The program will open up with a $20,000 USD Excelsior Series event.

(With files from Buffalo Raceway)