After his dominant win over Open 2 trotters last week, James Cantelon's Dragin The Wagon ($7.00) made a successful jump to Open 1 company at Tioga Downs, capturing the $13,000 feature on Saturday (September 3) evening in pillar-to-post fashion.

Aaron Byron had the six-year-old Angus Hall gelding in play from the outset, sprinting clear of Brandos Muscle Man (Mike Merton) in the first few strides of a :27 first quarter. Dragin The Wagon immediately backed the pace down before bracing for the first-over bid of odds-on favourite Its Payday Friday (Mike Simons) up the far side. Dragin The Wagon subsequently parried the challenge of Its Payday Friday after intermediate splits of :57 and 1:25, digging in through the homestretch to prevail by one and a quarter lengths in 1:54. Its Payday Friday narrowly held second over Brandos Muscle Man, who was hard pressed for racing room from a tight pocket trip.

Jeff Byron trains 30-time winner Dragin The Wagon for Thornton, Ontario resident Cantelon.

Mike Merton led all drivers for a second consecutive night, taking three of the night's nine races.

Live racing returns to Tioga Downs on Monday (September 5) afternoon. The 10-race Labor Day card is slated to commence at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.

(With files from Tioga Downs)