Race favourite The Budster won the $23,000 Open trot on a longshot-filled Wednesday at Dover Downs
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Hall of Famer Ron Pierce steered Jeff Bartels’ The Budster to his first win of the New Year setting a new race record with a 1:54 conquest in the week’s top trot. Following two straight second-place finishes after a third in his first 2012 start, the Broadway Hall-Distaff gelding had little trouble this week once Pierce took the seven-year-old into the lead. Maravich (Corey Callahan) finished second in front of Master In Charge (Brad Hanners) picked up third money.
Wednesday is the track’s biggest day for trotting events and several had high payoffs. A 42-1 shot, Joanna Callahan and Bill Childs’ homebred Race Me Comet. Next, Eugene Landy’s Extracurricular got up for Vic Kirby at 30-1. The Jim Porter trainee won a $10,500 conditioned trot. Then, in a $16,000 Winners-Over trot, David Neilson’s Gurf, with Allan Davis in the bike, closed from far back to score a 1:55.4 at 10-1 odds.
An 18-1 double-surprise occurred in the $14,000 trot when 18-1 Justherighttouch (Dave Miller), owned by Beaver Creek Farm, and Idol Kemp (Ross Wolfenden), racing for Carol and Jim Atkinson, could not be separated in a 1:55.2 win photo. The race was the first dead-heat win of the meet. On the pacing side, Lilwobbydobby (Ross Wolfenden) jetted down the lane to score a 25-1 upset in a $10,000 pacing tilt.
Ross Wolfenden and Ron Pierce had driving triples. Jim Morand had two wins. Alps , owner Todd Wise and trainer Joe Hundertpfund made the winner’s circle twice.
Tony Morgan had one win and now needs only six more to reach the $14,000-win milestone. Morgan now has 13,994 wins.
(Dover Downs)