It was a trip that China Dream couldn't have drawn up any better as the five-year-old gelding tied his lifetime mark of 1:54 thanks to his win in Saturday’s $10,000 Open Pace at Buffalo Raceway.
With LA Camcharger setting the fractions :28, :56.3 and 1:25.2, Western Alumni took over command a quarter mile to pace. But the race was now ready to begin in earnest. Knocking Around was first over and China Dream was in tow behind as both started to chase Western Alumni around the final turn. Knocking Around (David McNeight III) dropped into the passing lane and China Dream went wide to try and track down Western Alumni.
China Dream (Drew Monti) proved to be the best in the stretch, using a :28.2 final panel to take the half length victory over Knocking Around with Western Alumni (Todd Cummings) rolling into the show spot.
Co-owned by Jack and trainer Maria Rice, China Dream (If I Can Dream-China Art) has now won five times in 12 starts this season, earning $33,400 and $122,993 lifetime.
Racing will continue on Wednesday night with 11 races set to go to the post at 5 p.m. The card will include two finals of the Claiming Championship Series featuring the filly and mare pacers.
(Buffalo Raceway)