Veteran pacer Dedalos, the oldest in the the field, teamed up with a 20-year-old rising driving star, Drew Monti, to win the $26,250 final of the Niatross Knockout Claiming Series at Buffalo Raceway on Saturday night (March 7).
"Dedalos was on full tilt tonight," Monti said after the race. "It was a big purse and I was driving to make sure he won."
Dedalos, an 11-year-old gelding, let Goddesss Justin take the lead briefly just before the quarter, but Monti wasn't happy with the pocket and aggressively regained the top. The pair then settled in and set times of :29.1, :58.4 and 1:28.2 and were ready for any assault that might be coming their way down the stretch. Nothing developed.
Monti kept Dedalos ($8.20) on task in the lane and confidently drove him to the win in 1:57.4 over the "good" track. He beat Goddesss Justin (Jack Flanigen) by a length while It Was An Honor (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) finished third.
"At the three-quarter pole, I knew I had it won," Monti said. "I was worried about [post-time favourite] One Chaser because a couple of weeks ago when I was driving Nora Lee, he went right on by me."
That threat never materialized as One Chaser finished fifth.
Owned by Louis Frascella and trained by Michelle Gramza, Dedalos (Artiscape-My Tina) has now earned $17,649 this year and improved his lifetime earnings to $372,429 lifetime.
Dedalos, Goddesss Justin, It Was An Honor and fourth-place finisher Delightful Caitlin (Ron Beback Jr.) will return this spring and will battle the top four finishers in the Niatross Knockout Claiming Series "B" in a $25,000 Invitational.
The $10,000 Niatross Knockout Claiming Series consolation race went to Ms Luck (Kevin Cummings) in 1:59. The front-running Ms Luck ($6.00) made every step a winning one as she defeated Whitesand Noble (John Cummings Jr.) by a neck, with Dragon Ridge (Shawn Gray) finishing in third.
Ms Luck, nine-year-old mare, is co-owned by trainer Bob Gruber III and Eric Ruppert.
There were a pair of $8,800 paces as sub-features on the 13-race program.
It was no laughing matter in the opener as Jokerman (Jim McNeight) made it two straight wins by going gate-to-wire in beating Lucky Nodotremblay (Wrenn) by one and a half lengths in 1:57.2. Kennairn Buckwheat (Monti) finished in third.
Jokerman, who has been been in the money in all eight starts in 2015, now has three victories on the year. The six-year-old gelding was in the barn of Richard, Randy and Robert Roth for just two weeks, but was claimed out of the race for the $20,000 tag by Tessa Roland. Jokerman's earnings are now $19,689 on the season.
In the other $8,800 pace, Peter Pumpkineater (Cummings Jr.) used a ground-saving trip around the Buffalo Raceway half-mile oval and nailed Ugly Betty in deep stretch to register the win in 1:56.3. Terlingua (Monti) rallied for the show dough.
Ugly Betty, the lone mare in the field of seven, posted splits of :28, :56.3 and 1:26.2. It was a mad dash to the line with Peter Pumpkineater ($7.60) sneaking through down the passing lane to hand Ugly Betty a one and three-quarter length loss.
Peter Pumpkineater, a winner of $16,194 in 2015, is owned by Mark Jakubik and Tessa Roland. It was the third win in seven starts this season for the seven-year-old gelding, who is trained by JD Perrin.
Racing will continue on Wednesday night at Buffalo Raceway with a 12-race program set for 5 p.m.
(Buffalo Raceway)