Jack and Maria Rice celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary on Saturday night (March 12) and their pacer, China Dream, gave them a great gift by posting a one and three-quarter length victory over Babes I Scoot in the featured $10,000 Open Pace at Buffalo Raceway.

China Dream covered the mile in a seasonal-best 1:54.4 and it was the fastest clocking of the meet at Buffalo Raceway.

Getting a perfect trip from driver Jack Flanigen, China Dream rolled three-wide down the backstretch the final time and overtook the pacesetting Western Alumni at the top of the stretch. In the drive to the wire, it wasn't a matter of who was going to win, but by how much.

China Dream used a throttled down last split of :27.3 and that was more than enough to secure the win. Babes I Scoot (Jim Morrill Jr.) took second-place while Burton Blue Chip (Lee Dahn) rode the pylons for third.

The victory was the third in six tries for China Dream in 2016, increasing his bankroll to $19,900 this year and $109,493 lifetime. The five-year-old gelding (If I Can Dream-China Art) is trained by Maria Rice.

Morrill Jr. had five more wins in the sulky while Ray Fisher Jr. and Jack Flanigen each doubled.

(With files from Buffalo Raceway)