Milky Way Rae, driven by Aaron Byron, won the $11,000 Fillies & Mares Open Handicap Pace featured at Tioga Downs on Friday (July 13).
Heavens Dancer (Cory Stratton) controlled all the early fractions (:27.4, :57.4, 1:26) while Milky Way Rae ($28) followed in the pocket all the way until the top of the stretch. Owned by Fortunate One LLC and trained by Tony Dinges, she zoomed by in the stretch to win in 1:55 flat. K Js Caroline (Jim Taggart Jr.) fired late to finish second. All Charged Up (Mike Simons) was third-best.
Milky Way Rae is a five-year-old mare by American Ideal. The win was her fourth this season and career victory number 20.
Fern Paquet Jr. had a driving triple on the night. His wins were with Open Skies ($16), Sunset Dream ($11) and Embassy Seelster ($6.30).
"When I arrived at Tioga Downs in 2014, I noticed two people that seemed to be here during every race day," said track announcer John Horne. "Their names are Mary Birdsall and Chris James. They love harness racing and they love Tioga Downs. Earlier this year, Chris James purchased a five-year-old mare named Open Skies. Two weeks ago, they were in the winner's circle for the first time. Open Skies returned to the winner's circle again tonight and they found out it never gets old and is just as sweet the second time as the first time. Harness racing needs more people like Mary and Chris. It's hard not to root for Tioga Downs' number one fans!"
(With files from Tioga Downs)