To put it mildly, it was just a solid effort from start to finish for Itsonlyrocknroll A ($5.70) in the featured $9,000 Open II Pace at Buffalo Raceway on Saturday night (June 3).
Lulling the field to sleep with a soft opening panel of just :29, Itsonlyrocknroll A only got better the rest of the way and posted a convincing two-length decision over China Dream in a seasonal best of 1:53.3 over the fast track.
Larry Stalbaum and Itsonlyrocknroll A got an uncontested lead right off the gate and managed to open up a solid two-length margin through the first split of :29 while Littlebitaclass was next in line. The tempo picked up the rest of the way as Itsonlyrocknroll A hit the half in :57, starting to leave the remainder of the field in his dust. The final half-mile went in :56.3 with Itsonlyrocknroll A using a :28.1 last panel to secure the win. China Dream (Drew Monti) picked up the second-place cheque with Western Alumni (Todd Cummings) finishing in third.
Owned by Stalbaum and trained by Kimberly Asher, Itsonlyrocknroll A (Million Dollar Cam-Boldandbeautiful) is a six-year-old gelding that has seven wins in just 14 tries in 2017. The victory upped his earnings to $38,130 this year and $208,350 lifetime.
Stalbaum continued to dominate in the sulky with five wins on the night while Monti and Jim Morrill Jr. had doubles. Asher had four training victories with JD Perrin getting two.
Harness racing action will resume on Wednesday night at Buffalo Raceway with a 13-race card scheduled for 5 p.m. The New York Sire Stakes will roll into town for the first time this season with the three-year-old colt and gelding pacers ready to battle in a trio of $40,600 events. There will also be competition in the Excelsior A and B Series.
(With files from Buffalo Raceway)