It was quite a night once again for driver Jim Morrill Jr. and he brought trainer JD Perrin along for the ride as the pair absolutely dominated the action on Friday (April 15) at Buffalo Raceway.
Morrill Jr. put up another seven-bagger and amazingly moved into a first-place tie in the current driver's standings with 51 victories in just 107 starts. He tied the injured Jack Flanigen, who also has 51 wins, but in 263 tries. Morrill Jr. finished in the money in all 10 of his Friday drives.
It was the third time this season Morrill Jr. has had a seven-win night at Buffalo Raceway. He accomplished the feat on March 3 and March 25, and also did it twice before on March 1, 2013 and February 15, 2006.
Kevin Cummings holds the all-time mark at the track with eight victories on a single card on June 11, 2005.
And for Perrin, the three-time defending training champion at the Hamburg half-mile oval, he extended his huge advantage in the standings with a five-win night. He holds a 47-26 lead over Maria Rice, who conditioned a pair of winners.
The Morrill Jr.-Perrin combination won five times as Precise Accusation ($3.50), Leave Your Mark ($3.90), Aberarder Smitty ($2.60), Bruener ($7.00) and Herbie Is Gone ($7.80) all went to the winner's circle.
Morrill Jr. also scored victories with Gs Grasshopper ($6.20) for Maria Rice and the Angelo Nappo-trained Spring Terror ($2.30), whose race was marred by an accident. While Spring Terror and Morrill Jr. led the way, challenger Secluded Island appeared to take a bad step and took second over Outlaw Blues out of the race. There were no serious injuries to the drivers or horses reported. The drivers of both horses, Todd Cummings and Ray Fisher Jr., did return to action for Friday's remaining race.
In the feature, Noble Legend literally caught a 'good break' and took Buffalo Raceway's $8,200 trot. Kahoku had an unfortunate miscue, which helped Noble Legend take the two-length victory over the favoured Ali De Vie in 1:58.3 over the fast track.
The race around the final turn and into the stretch seemed to belong to the front-stepping Kahoku (Ron Beback Jr.) as he enjoyed a comfortable two-length advantage over Noble Legend. Things changed in a hurry, however, as Kahoku broke stride, allowing the pocket-sitting Noble Legend to take command and cruise home to the victory. Ali De Vie (Morrill Jr.) took second while Kahoku regrouped in time and managed to roll into the show position.
Owned by Vogel And Wags Nags Stable and Jack Rice, Noble Legend (Kadabra-Lovin It) has now earned $17,854 in 2016 thanks to four wins in nine starts. The four-year-old gelding is trained by Maria Rice.
(With files from Buffalo Raceway)