After being claimed for $17,500 last week by owner Michael Torcello, Endeavors Pride made his first return on that investment by winning Buffalo Raceway's featured $11,300 Class AA-Open Handicapped Pace on Saturday night (May 29).
Black Is Back worked hard but eventually got to the lead in the main event, setting the tempo with fractions of :28.1, :56.3 and 1:25.3 over the "good" track. Endeavors Pride was widest of all in the lane, decisively outpacing Daylight Rush and Black Is Back in 1:54.3 to win by a solid length.
Endeavors Pride (Keystone Endeavor-Gingerbread Square) is a seven-year-old gelding that has now produced $16,071 in earnings on the campaign and $186,207 in his career. Gerry Sarama trains the $17.00 while Jim Morrill Jr. sat in the bike.
It was a clean sweep of the features by the trio of Torcello, trainer Gerry Sarama and driver Jim Morrill Jr. as they connected with Southern Palms, who collected the decision in the $9,800 Class A-Open Handicapped Trot. The threesome combined to grab three victories on the program while Morrill Jr. steered home four winners.
With Keystone Apache leading the way with panels of :30.0, :59.3 and 1:29.2, the pocket sitting Southern Palms swung out at the top of the stretch and grabbed the lead in the shadow of the finish line, beating Keystone Apache by a nose. All About Thechase just missed by a little more than a nose and settled for the third place check.
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It was the fourth victory in 12 starts this season for the eight-year-old gelding Southern Palms (RC Royalty-Pacific Elegance). The win moved his seasonal earnings to $25,079 and $385,247 lifetime.
In the $9,600 Class A Pace, Sir Pugsley — a tough luck loser by a neck last week — made amends this time around with an impressive two-length win over Dojea Solo in 1:54.3. The Lunch Pail took third.
Sir Pugsley took command of the top with panels of :29.2, :58.1 and 1:27 and used a final quarter split of :27.3 to post the popular $2.60 victory.
Conditioned by Rose Russo and owned by Robert Woodburn, Sir Pugsley (American Ideal-Q And A), a seven-year-old horse, has produced $21,950 in earnings in 2021 and $392,819 in his career.
Drew Monti got a driving triple and Travis Henry a double while Jerry Nugent Jr. picked up a pair of training victories.
Racing will continue on Wednesday evening (June 2) with an 8-race card scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. (EDT).
(Buffalo Raceway)