Knoxville used the passing lane to perfection to stun defending champion Fragment by a length in the $169,167 New York Sire Stakes second round for three-year-old colt-and-gelding pacers at Buffalo Raceway on Wednesday, June 3.

Unmatched Wisdom (Leon Bailey) struck first from post two, then gave up command briefly to a pressing Knoxville (Tyler Buter) past the quarter in :27.3 before re-taking on the way to the half in :55.3. Fragment (Jason Bartlett), sitting fourth early, had to circle dead cover nearing three-quarters in 1:24.2 and advanced on Unmatched Wisdom into the final turn. In the stretch, Knoxville dropped into the passing lane while Fragment made his bid from the outside, and Knoxville finished best to score in 1:53.2. Unmatched Wisdom crossed the line third.

The win was a nice bounce back for Knoxville, who finished third by a length to Unmatched Wisdom in the NYSS opener at Saratoga Raceway on May 24. The son of Huntsville-Lets Fall In Love is now three-for-14 lifetime and has earned $214,408 for trainer Ray Schnittker, who shares ownership with Louis Palumbo, Theodore Gewertz and Milton Leeman. He paid $19.32 to win with his second victory of the year in four starts.

There was a trio of $27,778 Excelsior Series divisions on the program for sophomore pacing males.

Casper The Ghost ($13.18) took the first division as he used a :27.2 last quarter for Buter to collect an 8-3/4-length victory in 1:54.1. Johnny Wiggles (Bartlett) was the original second place-finisher but was disqualified and placed fourth for interference at the top of the stretch. River Ranch Dawson (Brett MacDonald) moved up to second, and Quickaway (Braxten Boyd) got the show cheque.

Buter continued on a roll in the next bracket as he got Magic Journey ($4.42) up in the final strides, edging out the pacesetting Jericho Johnny (Bailey) by a head in 1:55.4. Hard To Forget (Ridge Warren) was third.

Killing Joke ($4.54) went gate-to-wire for Bailey in the final split, notching the comfortable 3-1/2-length score over American Pastime (Braxten Boyd) in 1:56.1. The Quiet Cowboy (Bartlett) completed the ticket.

In the $19,028 optional-claiming pace for the fillies and mares, Face The Shadows ($12.72) made a big brush down the backstretch and drove clear to register a three-length victory over Gentrify (MacDonald) in 1:56. Kevin Cummings guided Face The Shadows to her second consecutive win to complete a natural hat trick for trainer Samuel Smith on the 15-race program. He also won with Seventier ($2.86), making his first start for the barn, and Out On Bail ($3.14). Smith leads the Buffalo standings with 52 wins and holds a cushion of 22 over second-placed David Russo.

Buter completed the afternoon with three stakes victories while MacDonald and Drew Monti had a pair of wins each. Schnittker posted a pair of training scores.

Racing will continue at Buffalo on Friday at 2:30 p.m. with 13 races scheduled. There is a $646 carryover in the Pick 5, which begins in the second race.

(With files from Buffalo Raceway)