City Kid played 'catch me if you can' and his seven rivals just couldn't do it in Buffalo Raceway's featured $8,200 trot on a rainy Friday evening (March 31).
Grabbing the lead from the beginning of the race, City Kid ($12.80) was too tough for the others as he toured the mile in 2:00 over the sloppy track. The Bronx Bumper was the nearest rival to City Kid in the end, finishing three and a quarter lengths back. Chelseas Chance (Drew Monti) took the show spot.
Starting from the five post, driver Larry Stalbaum set the fractions aboard City Kid with panels of :29.2, :592 and 1:29.3. At the top of the stretch, City Kid enjoyed a solid two-length edge and drew away as The Bronx Bumper (Jim Morrill Jr.) never made a threatening move in the dash to the wire.
Owned by Marissa Russo and trained by David Russo, City Kid (Cincinnati Kid-Salagadoola) has scored four victories in 11 attempts this season. The win pushed the nine-year-old gelding's earnings to $20,074 in 2017 and $209,664 lifetime.
Stalbaum, Buffalo Raceway's leading driver, continued to pile up the victories as he notched five wins on the card while Ray Fisher Jr. and Morrill Jr. added doubles. Trainer Sabrina Clevenger had a triple while David Russo had two.
Racing will continue on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. with 12 races on tap. There is a $558 carryover in the Pick-5, which begins in the second race.
(With files from Buffalo Raceway)