Mercutio reached up in the final strides to nip Shine All The Way by a head in Buffalo Raceway's co-featured $20,704 Open Trot for driver Brett MacDonald and trainer Shane Arsenault on Saturday, June 20.

Mercutio, who started from the rail, rode the pocket behind Shine All The Way (David McNeight III), who set the fractions of :28, :57.3 and 1:27. With the heavily favoured Valentine Express (Drew Monti) out of contention after breaking stride around the opening turn, it boiled down to a sprint to the wire between Mercutio and Shine All The Way. Shine All The Way, who did all the dirty work on the point, lost a bit of his lustre late as Mercutio used the passing lane and pulled out the victory in 1:56.4. The Governor (Mike Whelan) took the show spot.

Owned by Arsenault of Freelton, Ont., Mercutio took his second victory in seven starts on the season. The seven-year-old Bar Hopping-Frisky Magic stallion is now 22-for-100 lifetime with $275,312 in earnings. He paid $12.48 to win.

Later in the card, Lanjo Lee ($28.52) made it three victories in his last four starts in the $20,704 Open Pace by rolling wide down the stretch to defeat Trente Deo.

The early action in the Open Pace paid off for Lanjo Lee (Kyle Cummings). Do Mischief (Kevin Cummings), Stormalong (Brett MacDonald) and Toreador Gb (Ray Fisher Jr.) were all headstrong to get the lead while Lanjo Lee, who started from the outside eight post, was able to tuck into fifth. After leader Stormalong was pressured by Toreador Gb through fractions of :28.1, :57 and 1:26.1, things began to cave in on the front end

Trente Deo (McNeight III) was first-over and had the lead in the stretch, but Lanjo Lee came roaring down the lane three-wide and registered the victory by three-quarters of a length in 1:54.4. Trente Deo was beaten by a neck, with Do Mischief third.

Lanjo Lee, trained by Tammy Cummings for Gordon Swift, is four-for-15 this season. He has earned $482,269 lifetime and won 38 of 112 starts.

Racing will resume at Buffalo on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. with a 15-race card set. The afternoon is filled with stakes action as the three-year-old trotters square off in New York Sire Stakes action, and there will be five $20,000 USD divisions of the Excelsior Series.

(With files from Buffalo Raceway)