Protect Blue Chip protected her front-end position the entire mile and held off a late charge from Lady Dudette by a head in a seasonal best of 1:55.4 in Wednesday's (June 23) featured $11,300 Class A-Open Handicap Pace for fillies and mares at Buffalo Raceway.
After a skirmish to the lead with Lady Dudette at the start, Protect Blue Chip ($4.20) and driver Jim Morrill Jr. posted solid fractions of :28.2, :57.3 and 1:27.1. It was a two-horse break away down the home stretch, with Protect Blue Chip clinging to the lead at the wire over Lady Dudette (Kyle Cummings), who was a tough-luck second. Xenias Chip (Drew Monti) took the show position.
Co-owned by the Vogel & Wags Nags Stable, Team Rice Racing and Adelphi Bloodstock, Protect Blue Chip (American Ideal-Lucky Turn) is trained by Maria Rice. The victory jacked the six-year-old mare's earnings to $28,740 on the year and $156,105 lifetime.
Twenty-year-old driver Kyle Cummings started the fireworks early, steering home four winners on the 11-race program and recording the first grand slam of his young career.
He kicked off the evening by guiding Candys Desire to a $33.20 victory in the first race, and that was just a hint of things to come. Cummings followed that up with a $84.00 win aboard Sleepin In The Sun in the third race, and then took Needlecrest to the winner's circle in the fifth with a $38.80 score. To cap the night off, Cummings drove JK Kissntell to a $9.20 decision in the 10th race.
Kyle's mother, Tammy Cummings, kept things in the family by collecting three training victories while Kevin Cummings, Kyle's uncle, had a double in the bike.
Racing will continue on Saturday evening (June 26) at 6 p.m. with a 13-race program set and a $4,000 guaranteed Pick-5 pool spanning races 2 through 6.
For more information, including the latest news, race replays, results and entries, go to www.buffaloraceway.com.
(Buffalo Raceway)