Driver Jason Bartlett made an early move with Dune Buggy ($2.90) just past the opening quarter pole and that maneuver proved to be the winning one as they scored a head victory over a stubborn Oogleville in the $163,973 New York Sire Stakes for the sophomore colt and gelding pacers at Buffalo Raceway on a gorgeous Wednesday afternoon, June 4.
Oogleville (Kevin Cummings), Red Blooded (Drew Monti) and Idealofaday (Brett Beckwith) had a skirmish for supremacy on the point in the early going. With Dune Buggy nestled into fourth place right before the first quarter pole, Bartlett tipped him to the outside and quickly took over command.
With fractions of :56.4 and 1:25.1 in the books over the fast track, Dune Buggy was kept on task through the long homestretch. Oogleville made a desperate attempt at the pacesetter in the passing lane but just came up a head short in the 1:54 mile. Ima Perfect Choice (Joseph Chindano Jr.) rallied for third place.
Owned by Delaware's David Hamm and Glenn Phillips and New York's Devita Racing Stable, the three-year-old gelded Dune Buggy (Huntsville-Dune In Red) collected $81,986 for the victory. With three wins on the ledger in 2025, Dune Buggy now has $159,035 in prize money on the year and $165,430 lifetime. He is trained by Nicholas Devita, who had a pair of conditioning wins on the card.
There were a pair of $27,397 Excelsior Series events for the sophomore male pacers and Baleville Bomber, driven by Kevin Cummings, produced a 'bomb' in the first division with a $68.50 victory in a lifetime best of 1:56.3 over the fast track, beating Mr Huggins (Jason Bartlett) by a head.
Down the stretch, it appeared that it was going to be a battle between Mr Huggins and EZ Spree (James McNeight Jr.), but Baleville Bomber was in high gear in the lightning lane and zoomed on by to collect the upset victory. Mr Huggins held on for second place with EZ Spree taking show spot honours.
The three-year-old gelded Baleville Bomber (Huntsville-Actress Hanover) is also owned by Hamm, Phillips and Devita Racing Stable while trained by Devita. The win was his second in six starts, producing $22,692 in earnings on the year and $30,288 in his career.
The second bracket was true to form as Southpaw ($2.20) and Jimmy Whittemore easily wired the field and beat Alabama Lucky (Mark MacDonald) by a length in 1:55.3 while Baby Squash (Kevin Cummings) took third.
Easily holding pylon position from the start, Southpaw reached the lead and notched fractions of :29.3, :58.1 and 1:27.3. In the lane, Southpaw had plenty of breathing room to play with and had enough to hold back the late rushing Alabama Lucky.
Owned and trained by Whittemore, the three-year-old gelded Southpaw (American Ideal-Love You Bye) has now scored two victories in six attempts, putting $34,363 in the bank on the campaign and $152,226 lifetime.
Kevin Cummings completed the afternoon of racing with four wins while Kyle Swift and Denny Bucceri registered a pair. Lester Mullet had two training triumphs.
Racing will continue on Friday, June 6 at 2:30 p.m. with a 13-race card.
(With files from Buffalo Raceway)