Mike Merton had a productive Saturday thanks to a five-win performance at Tioga Downs.
Merton led Tag Up And Go ($7.00) to a win in the featured Open Handicap Trot ($12,000).
Dragin The Wagon (Aaron Byron) put up early fractions of :28.1, :58 and 1:26.1 before The Last Chapter (Mike Simons) took the lead at the top of the stretch.
Tag Up And Go, who is trained by Patti Harmon for owners Lester Gelardi, Jr. and Anthony Passafaro, went second over fourth as they hit three-quarters. He would go four wide in mid-stretch. The Last Chapter went off-stride in deep stretch and Tag Up And Go went by to win in 1:55.2. Dragin The Wagon settled for second best. Prairie Fortune (Jim Meittinis) finished third.
Tag Up And Go is nine-year-old gelding by Angus Hall. It was his seventh win of 2019 including the last five in a row. He now has 46 career victories.
Merton's five wins included two more wins with trainer Patti Harmon. Their other two wins came with Tropical Trice ($5.70) and Quick Deal ($14.00). His other driving wins came with Kabang ($16.60) and Choochoocharlie ($13.80).
Tioga Downs returns to live racing on Sunday (June 2) with a 13 race card starting at 1 p.m.
(Tioga Downs)