Closing Credits and Corey Braden captured the second leg of the Nichols True Value Pace on Sunday afternoon at Tioga Downs.
Leaving from post position number four in a field scratched down to seven, the duo settled in sixth as Dont Sugarcoat It (Brandon Simpson) led the field by the opening quarter in :26.4. Dont Sugarcoat It was still in command by the half in :54.3, but the backfield was in motion. Braden tipped Closing Credits to the outside and paced a third quarter in :27 to grab control of the field by three-quarters in 1:23. Around the final turn the only questions that remained were by how many and how fast as Closing Credits opened up on the field. He won by five and three-quarter lengths in a lifetime-best clocking of 1:51.
Jim Graham trains and co-owns the three-year-old son of Rambaran with The Cybo Stable of New York. The win was the seventh in 13 seasonal starts for Closing Credits, who remained perfect in the Nichols True Value Pace heading into the $40,400 final on Sunday, June 9.
The Green Knight (Greg Merton) finished second and TS Electric (Jim Marohn Jr.) was third while Bugsy Malone (Jim Meittinis) rounded out the ($14.22) 5-3-2-8 10-cent superfecta.
(Tioga Downs)