It wasn't a matter if Youwillwishyouhad was going to win at Buffalo Raceway, it was just a matter of when.
Well, that elusive victory came about on Saturday night (March 5) as Youwillwishyouhad got the perfect trip and posted a one and theee-quarter length decision over If It Rains in the $10,000 Open Pace. The winning time was 1:56.4 over the "good" track.
And while Youwillwishyouhad finally found the winner's circle, driver Jim Morrill Jr. has been making himself right at home there. He scored seven victories on the night and was in the money in all 11 races with two second-place finishes and two thirds. Morrill Jr. now has an amazing 17 wins in 33 starts over a seven-day span at Buffalo Raceway.
Morrill Jr. has had seven wins on a program at Buffalo Raceway twice before. He did it on March 1, 2013 and February 15, 2006. Kevin Cummings holds the all-time mark at the track with eight wins on a card on June 11, 2005.
In the feature, after four second-place finishes and a third in his last five tries in the Open Pace at the Hamburg, New York half-mile oval, Youwillwishyouhad ($4.10) was more than primed for a winning effort and didn't disappoint as the even-money choice.
LA Camcharger did the dirty work by cutting the fractions of :28.1, :57.1 and 1:27 while Youwillwishyouhad sat back and enjoyed the pocket-sitting trip. In the stretch drive, driver David McNeight III dropped Youwillwishyouhad into the passing lane and cruised past the leg-weary LA Camcharger (Ron Beback Jr.), who finished in third. If It Rains (Morrill Jr.) showed some late kick to take second-place, but was never a serious threat to the wire.
With his first victory of the 2016 campaign, Youwillwishyouhad (Artiscape-Dawns Ideal) has now been in the money in seven of eight starts this year, earning $18,200. It jacked the five-year-old gelding's lifetime bankroll to $160,260. He is co-owned by Mark Jakubik and Tessa Roland and trained by JD Perrin, who had conditioned two winners.
(Buffalo Raceway)