Sunday afternoon at Tioga Downs featured some of the best Free-For-All pacers in the sport in the $184,000 Roll With Joe and $156,000 Artiscape Pace. When the curtain fell it left a tough argument for advocates against trailing horses in stakes races as both were captured from horses in the trailing post position 10.
In the $184,000 Roll With Joe Pace, Golden Receiver (Tim Tetrick) got his typical jump off the wings and was in front by the quarter-mile mark in :26. However, Sweet Lou and Yannick Gingras were parked and pressed on to the front clearing Golden Receiver by the three-eighth-mile mark of the race.
As the field headed by the half-mile in :53.2, George Brennan and Betterthancheddar were forced first over from third by Pet Rock and David Miller.
Down the backside, Sweet Lou and Betterthancheddar raced in sync through a third panel in :26.4, reaching the three-quarters mark in 1:20.1. Around the final turn it looked as though Betterthancheddar had gotten the best of Sweet Lou, but looming on his back was Pet Rock, and as the field reached the stretch, Miller and Pet Rock quickly grabbed control of the field.
The lone threat to Pet Rock in the stretch was a fast-closing Foiled Again (Matt Kakaley), who was looking for room in the stretch, but had to settle for second for the second straight year. Pet Rock stopped the timer in 1:48.1, establishing a new track record for four-year-old stallions at Tioga Downs, equalling the all age track record, and coming within just a fifth of a second off of the world record held by We Will See and Betterthancheddar. Rockincam (Brian Sears) finished third while Betterthancheddar hung on for fourth.
Virgil Morgan Jr. trains the Ontario-bred four-year-old son of Rocknroll Hanover, who has earned over $1 million in purses for owner Frank Bellino of Bronxville, New York.
In the $156,000 Artiscape Pace, however, a world record was equalled by what was probably the most overlooked horse in the four-horse Burke entry, Camille.
Anndrovette and Tim Tetrick left the gate and put up some serious fractions of :25.3 and :52.3 in the first half-mile.
Down the backside, Jody Jamieson had Big McDeal in the pocket and pulled at the five-eighths mile mark trying to clear Anndrovette by three-quarters in 1:19.4, but was unsuccessful. Matt Kakaley had Camille in the outer flow seventh at three-quarters and was following stablemate Rocklamation (Yannick Gingras), who was gobbling up ground around the final turn.
In the stretch Kakaley tipped Camille off of Gingras’ helmet and quickly paced by Rocklamation to win in 1:48.3. The mile equalled the world record for aged mare pacers held by Southwind Tempo from Harrah's Chester in 2009.
Rocklamation finished a half-length back in second, Anndrovette went a big mile to hang on for third, while Drop The Ball (Corey Callahan) closed late for fourth.
Ron Burke trains the five-year-old Ontario-bred and sired daughter of Camluck for Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi, M1 Stable, and Jack Piatt III, all of Pennsylvania.
Tioga Downs would like to thank Bluechip Farms for sponsoring the Roll With Joe pace. Roll With Joe earned more than $1.8 million on the racetrack while taking a mark of 1:48.2 and his yearlings hit the sale rings in late 2013.
Brittany Farms Management sponsored the 2013 Artiscape Pace. Artiscape earned more than $1.4 million on the racetrack and took a mark of 1:49.3 in his racing career. He is a proven stallion, who has foaled winners of more than $83 million including Maltese Artist, Escape The Wind, Rainbow Blue, and Yankee Cruiser.
Tioga Downs also held the Yannick Gingras–Binghamton Mets jersey auction in between races on Sunday. All proceeds of the auctioned jerseys will go to Pancreatic Cancer Research, and when the public and silent auctions were over, $5,000 was raised. Tioga Downs would like to thank all of those who participated in the auctions on Sunday afternoon.
(With files from Tioga Downs)