"He raced huge at Tioga Downs last week so I expected he'd be good here tonight," said driver Drew Monti of Southern Palms. His prediction was spot on.
Southern Palms was indeed good after rolling to a 1-1/4-length victory over the heavily favoured Majestic Kat in Buffalo Raceway's featured $13,000 Open Trot in 1:59.3 on a rainy Saturday night (June 15).
Finishing a solid fourth last Sunday in Tioga's Open Handicap Trot, Southern Palms got the perfect pocket journey over the sloppy surface as Majestic Kat (Billy Davis Jr.) splashed out the fractions of :29.4, 1:00.3 and 1:30.3.
In the stretch, Southern Palms ($12.80) moved to the outside and cruised on past Majestic Kat to score the win. Lougazi (Ray Fisher Jr.) took the third place money.
"I wanted to be forwardly placed," Monti said of the getting the garden spot. "I knew Jack Rice's horse (Majestic Kat) was going to be tough but we'd make a serious run at her."
Owned by Mike Torcello and trained by Gerry Sarama, the six-year-old gelded Southern Palms (RC Royalty-Pacific Elegance) earned his second victory in 12 tries this year. The win boasted his seasonal winnings to $27,840 and lifetime bankroll to $294,571.
BZ Glide showed he's back after wiring the field in the $9,200 Class A-B Handicap trot in 1:59.1. He posted a 1-1/2 length decision over Lunar Credit.
Scoring from the seven post, driver Mike Caprio easily reached the lead with BZ Glide and put up splits of :29.1, :59 and 1:29.1. There were no serious challenges down the stretch as BZ Glide trotted smartly to the finish line. Lunar Credit (Jim McNeight Jr.) skimmed the pylons and took second while Call My Broker (Monti) rallied for the show position.
The win was the first in four 2019 outings for the 10-year-old gelded BZ Glide (Yankee Glide-Bloomer Zoomer), who is owned by the Caprio Stable LLC and trained by Alana Caprio. The lion's share of the purse upped his 2019 earnings to $7,750 and career stash to $321,591.
Davis Jr. and Monti each completed the evening with a pair of driving doubles.
Racing will continue on Sunday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. with a 13-race program on tap. There's a carryover of $684 carryover in the Pick 5, which begins in the second race.
(With files from Buffalo Raceway)