Adriano Hanover toyed with the field for the first three-quarters of a mile in Buffalo Raceway's $12,300 featured pace on Saturday night (Jan. 29). But when it was time to go, boy did he go.
Driver Drew Monti gave Adriano Hanover the green light just past the final pole and used a :28.2 final split to bury the field by a throttled down 6-3/4 lengths in 1:58.1 over the good track. Paprike Blue Chip took the place spot with Endeavors Pride finishing in third.
After a minor skirmish with Silver Beast in the battle for the lead, Adriano Hanover paced out fractions of :30.4, 1:00.4 and 1:29.4. But hitting the final marker, Adriano Hanover, enjoying just a length advantage, was off like a flash and had the remaining six participants soon in surrender mode.
Owned by Rocco Stebbins and trained by Joe Skowyra, Adriano Hanover (Western Ideal-A And Gs Confusion) is a five-year-old horse that now has earned $201,582 lifetime.
In the sub-featured $10,600 Open III Trot, Schnickel Fritz was the second longest shot on the board in the compact field of five and his faithful followers were rewarded with a solid $29.00 win price. He beat Photo Bomber by 1-3/4 lengths in 2:01.4 while Warrawee Shipshape rolled in for third.
J-S Swanman took control of the top from the rail and produced an opening half of 1:01.2. Schnickel Fritz, who sat in fourth, went first over up the backstretch the final time and took the lead with a quarter mile to trot. It was all over from there as Schnickel Fritz had no serious challengers and took the convincing victory.
Owned by Michael Ohol Jr. and Steven Gross, the seven-year-old gelded Schnickel Fritz (Dontyouforgetit-The Power Of Magic) has earned $137,941 in his lifetime. Kyle Cummings was in the sulky.
Kevin Cummings finished with a driving triple while Monti and Jim McNeight Jr. each had doubles. Gerry Sarama had three training victories while Jim McNeight notched two.
Racing will continue on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. (EST) with an eight-race program slated. There will be a guaranteed pool of $3,000 in the Pick-5 which begins in the second race.
(Buffalo Raceway)