Adonis Bay flexed his muscles in Buffalo Raceway's $12,500 Open Pace on Saturday night, June 22, with a length decision over Manceiver in 1:54 over the fast track. It was the second consecutive pacesetting victory for Adonis Bay.
Zooming off the starting gate, Adonis Bay set comfortable fractions of :28.2, :57.1 and 1:25.3 and had more than enough as the closers had no answers on the perfect evening for racing. Manceiver skimmed the pylons and took second while Western Conquest was third.
Owned by Michael Gentner and trained by Jerry Nugent Jr., it was the third win in 19 attempts for Adonis Bay (If I Can Dream-Kiss Me I'm Lucky). The win increased the seven-year-old gelding's earnings to $40,850 this season and $261,755 in his career. Jim Morrill Jr. drove the $4.60 winner.
In the co-featured $12,000 Class A-Open Trot, Wheels A Turning (David McNeight III) went three-wide in the final quarter mile and crept past favoured BZ Glide late to register an $18.80 upset in 1:58.
BZ Glide, cutting the mile with splits of :28.3, :57.3 and 1:27.2, softened to the three-quarter pole as Southern Palms looked to trot past. That attempt failed, leaving BZ Glide to try and fend off the challenge of Wheel A Turning in the lane. He put up a valiant effort but the five-year-old mare Wheels A Turning was able to squeeze on by for the score.
Co-owned by the Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, it was the sixth win in 14 tries for Wheels A Turning (Cantab Free-Free Wheeling). The victory upped her 2019 bankroll to $37,500 and $192,902 lifetime. David McNeight III sat in the bike.
There were a pair of $10,000 Class A paces on the program. In the first leg, Stratocaster (Morrill Jr.) used a :56.3 back half in collecting a two-and-a-half length victory over Lucky Nadotremblay in 1:55.4, returning $4.50 for the win.
The other bracket saw Lots Of Lovin and Ray Fisher Jr. go from last to first in the stretch and spring the $43.60 shocker in nipping Im So Handsome by a head in a seasonal best of 1:55.
Racing will resume on Sunday afternoon (June 22) at 12:30 p.m. with a 15-race program. There will be a two $57,600 divisions of the New York Sire Stakes for the three-year-old filly trotters along with a trio of $15,000 Excelsior A events and one $6,700 Excelsior B race. There's also a $616 carryover in the Pick-5 which begins in the second race.
(with files from Buffalo Raceway)