Hunting Zone and driver Colin Kelly won the $20,423 Open Handicap Pace at Tioga Downs on Sunday, July 12 amid a training triple for Enrico Robinson.

Hunting Zone and Kelly landed in third behind the inside longshot leavers and watched the early action as Beach Town Boy (James Kennedy) and Marvelous Mac A (Mike Merton) traded turns on top through opening panels of :28.2 and :56.2 before making the winning move. As the field of five went down the backstretch, Hunting Zone surged to the front and was first to three-quarters in 1:23.2 with Red Blooded (Jim Pantaleano) following suit. As they turned for home, Hunting Zone and Red Blooded pulled away from the rest of the field and slugged it out down the lane. Digging in, Hunting Zone hit his target, reaching the wire first by three-quarters of a length in 1:51.2. Son Of A Show (Braxten Boyd) was third best. 

With top three finishes in his last seven starts across four different tracks, Hunting Zone was the 4-5 favourite and paid $3.78 to win.

Trained by Robinson, Hunting Zone now sports a seasonal scorecard reading 3-4-4 from 16 starts with earnings of $74,665 for owner Pollack Racing of Venetia, Pennsylvania. The six-year-old Huntsville-Smart Zone gelding surpassed $400,000 in career earnings with his 21st victory from 101 lifetime starts.

Kelly and Robinson combined for a hat trick on the afternoon's 10-race card, also winning with Stop The Shootin ($15) and Lusaka N ($2.12).

Tioga Downs will host live harness racing next on Friday, July 17, with post time at 6:15 p.m.

(With files from Tioga Downs)