Bolt Of Beauty turned in a 'beauty' of a performance in Buffalo Raceway's $18,750 Open I-II Open Pace for the fillies and mares on Wednesday, April 16.
Starting from post four, Bolt Of Beauty, driven by Drew Monti, was able to reach the lead with relative ease, hitting the opening panel in :29.3. With all the competitors in the compact six-horse field staying in single file, Bolt Of Beauty then notched splits of :59 and 1:27.4 with a quarter-mile to go.
There was little suspense down the homestretch as Bolt Of Beauty easily won by 1-3/4 lengths over Rightfully Mine (Kyle Swift) in 1:56.3 over the fast track. McVera (Joseph Chindano Jr.) secured the third-place cheque. Bolt Of Beauty paid $6.10 to win.
Owned by Going On Drive of Buffalo, New York and conditioned by David Russo, the eight-year-old Bolt Of Beauty (Bolt The Duer-Natural Luck) scored her third victory of the season from 10 starts. The win upped her bankroll to $39,316 this year and $441,047 in her career.
In the $15,278 sub-featured pace for the ladies, Big Bad Mosa ($16.40) imposed her will in the final strides and nipped American Jazz by a nose in 1:59.1.
American Jazz (Drew Monti) got the jump off the rail and produced splits of :29.3 and :59.4 through the opening half. Meanwhile, Big Bad Mosa (Jim Morrill Jr.) was sixth and last heading around the second turn and quickly gobbled up ground to get on even terms with American Jazz.
The pair raced as a tandem for the final half-mile with neither one giving an inch. But nearing the finish line, Big Bad Mosa was able to poke a nose in front to escape with the narrow victory. American Jazz had to settle for the tough luck second-place finish while Bee Still My Hardt (Kyle Cummings) was third, just half of a length back.
The win was the fourth in13 starts this year for the eight-year-old Big Bad Mosa (Big Bad John-Cammosa), who is trained by Samuel Smith and owned by the El Dorado Stables of Fort Myers, Florida and Michael Torcello of Hamburg, New York. The win upped her seasonal earnings to $44,493 and lifetime bankroll to $208,701.
Morrill Jr. had a stellar afternoon in the sulky with five victories while Monti tripled. Russo, John Leggio and Ron Houghtaling each had training doubles.
Live harness racing will resume on Friday afternoon with an 11-race program scheduled. The first post is 2:30 p.m.
(With files from Buffalo Raceway)