Purple Lord earned his third straight victory in the top trotting ranks at Tioga Downs since joining the Mike Deters stable, taking the $21,918 Open Handicap Trot on Saturday, May 31.
Leaving from post eight, Purple Lord and driver Jim Pantaleano took the lead just before hitting the quarter in :27.1. Purple Lord cleared early leaver Lava Field (Tyler Miller) and led to the half in :56 and three-quarters in 1:24.4 with the favoured Pocono Downs invader TNT Blue Chip (Bruce Clarke) first-up from third heading down the backstretch and challenging for the lead. As they reached the stretch, Purple Lord found another gear and won in 1:54.3 by three-quarters of a length over TNT Blue Chip, with Lava Field 2-1/2 lengths back in third.
Deters and partners John Spindler, Joel Warner and Michael Paulson acquired Purple Lord in mid-May after he had posted top three finishes in his first nine of 10 starts on the year. The five-year-old Tactical Landing-Paige Hanover gelding now has 12 career victories and lifetime earnings totalling $338,912.
Let go as the 9-2 fourth choice, Purple Lord returned $11.40 to win.
Live harness racing returns to Tioga Downs on Sunday, June 1, with a post time of 1 p.m.
(With files from Tioga Downs)