Lyons Surfing completed his ascent up the class ladder at Buffalo Raceway as he went first-up to victory in the $21,528 Open Pace on Saturday, April 11, headlining a training triple for Sheena Cohen.

Lyons Surfing has quickly climbed the ranks at Buffalo, collecting three straight wins heading into the co-feature. He won with first-over trips while rising in class in his last two outings, and his Saturday win was achieved via similar means.

It lined up Davey Day Trader (Dave McNeight III)-Egomania (Kevin Cummings)-Lanjo Lee (Kyle Cummings) coming off the first turn, but simultaneous moves by the latter two nearing the quarter reversed the order and resulted in Lanjo Lee on top. After fractions of :27.3 and :55.4, Lanjo Lee hit the gas on the backstretch to take a 3-1/4-length lead at three-quarters in 1:24.2 with Lyons Surfing advancing first-over into second for Greg Merton. Lyons Surfing shifted into the empty pocket to continue his chase on the final turn and was joined by Livonjaxandqueens (Denny Bucceri) as they closed down the leader. The pair sandwiched Lanjo Lee down the lane and went by late, with Lyons Surfing just hitting the line before a hard-charging Livonjaxandqueens. Livonjaxandqueens missed by a neck, and Lanjo Lee completed the ticket.

Lyons Surfing notched his fourth straight win, improving to four-for-five on the campaign for trainer Sheena Cohen and owner P T Stable. The six-year-old Stay Hungry-Surfside Sexy gelding has won 25 of 92 career outings and has earned $493,335. The win price was $4.66.

Cohen also sent out winners Brookview Darius ($3.88) and Wild Bill Kelso ($7.86). She has racked up 13 wins this season in 36 starts and is third in the Buffalo standings, two wins back of David Russo in second and 10 behind leader Sam Smith.

Valentine Express upset his five rivals with a 23-1 shocker in the $21,528 Open Handicap Trot.

El Toro Loco (Kevin Cummings) took the lead nearing the quarter in :28.1 and set the tempo to the half in :58.4 with heavily favoured Dealin With Dewey (Brett MacDonald) tracking along in second. Valentine Express (Drew Monti) went three-wide around the first-over Double Class (Greg Merton) nearing three-quarters in 1:28, and it was a mad scramble down the stretch with Valentine Express closing on the outside while Crazy Ritz (James McNeight Jr.) fired from the back and Dougadougadew (Kyle Cummings) attacked from the inside. In a five-horse dash for the line, Valentine Express forged to the front late and held on by a head over Crazy Ritz to prevail in 1:57.4. Dougadougadew finished in third.

The win was the first in three attempts this season for Valentine Express, who is owned by Rock 01 Stable Inc. and trained by Jerry Nugent Jr. The seven-year-old son of Chapter Seven-Cantata has earned $402,190 lifetime with 28 victories in 135 starts. He paid $49.82 to win.

Merton completed the afternoon with four driving wins while Drew Monti had a triple.

Racing will continue at Buffalo on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. with an 11-race card scheduled.

(With files from Buffalo Raceway)