Utopia Blue Chip found the front-end journey to her liking on a rainy afternoon at Buffalo Raceway as she splashed and dashed her way to victory in the featured $21,232 Fillies and Mares Open Pace on Wednesday, April 29.
After a brief tussle with Ladycorona (James McNeight Jr.) in the early stages, Dale Spence got Utopia Blue Chip to the lead and rated her to fractions of :29.1 and :59.2 through the opening half. Think Of Galaxies (Brett MacDonald) went first-over around the clubhouse turn the second time and brought Elegant Woman A (Drew Monti) along for the ride to three-quarters in 1:28.1.
Think Of Galaxies and Elegant Woman A fanned out across the track in the drive for the wire, but Utopia Blue Chip kept herself clean and was steady to the finish for a 1:57 victory over a sloppy track. Think Of Galaxies was two lengths back in second over Elegant Woman A.
Leased and trained by Spence of Tyne Valley, P.E.I., Utopia Blue Chip notched her third win in 16 appearances on the year. The six-year-old daughter of Sweet Lou-Reign On Me is now 20-for-84 lifetime with $318,954 in earnings. She paid $7.16 to win.
Dave McNeight III enjoyed a stellar afternoon as he completed the 13-race program with four driving victories. Kevin Cummings and Monti had doubles. Rachelle Mungillo recorded a pair of training scores.
Racing will resume at Buffalo on Friday afternoon with an 11-race card set. The featured event will be the $30,000 USD final of the April Reins Claiming Series, which is scheduled as the eighth race. There is a special noon post time for live racing at Buffalo on Saturday as 12 races will be conducted before the Kentucky Derby. The $15,500 USD Open Pace and Trot will be contested as the seventh and eighth races, respectively.
(With files from Buffalo Raceway)