Canadian-campaigned trotter R Royal Port ($8.90) pulled into 'port' on time and scored a two-length victory over E Street in Buffalo Raceway's $19,178 Open I-II Trot on Saturday evening, July 13. The time was 1:56.1 over the fast track and just missed tying the aged gelding trotting track record by a fifth of a second.
The feature race was named the William Richardson Trot in honour and in memory of the Buffalo Raceway president who passed away on June 26, 2024.
R Royal Port has had two Open races under his belt since arriving from Canada and put it all together from the five post this time.
Battling with E Street (Dan Yetman) in the early going, R Royal Port and driver Jim Morrill Jr. managed to reach the top in :29.1 and followed up the opening panel with splits of :59 and 1:27.3.
Turning for home, E Street stayed in the pocket while Arrakis (Joseph Chindano Jr.) and Valentine Express (Kevin Cummings) tried to sandwich the tempo-setting R Royal Port. None had any answers though as R Royal Port smartly trotted home a winner by two lengths with E Street hanging on for second and Arrakis finishing third.
Trained by Gerard Demers and owned by La Ferme Tag Inc. of Papineauville, Que., R Royal Port (Archangel-World Class Izzy) earned his eighth win of the season from 21 starts. The win bumped his seasonal bankroll to $65,673 and career earnings to $118,413.
In the $16,712 Open II Pace, Stranger Things ($3.10) held the lead at every checkpoint en route to a half-length victory over Egomania in 1:54.1. Firing off the pylons, Stranger Things and Morrill Jr. set fractions of :29.3, :59.1 and 1:26.3. While the snappy fractions were in the books, Stranger Things used a :27.3 last quarter to keep Egomania (David McNeight III) at bay after fending off the first-over challenger and eventual third-place finisher, Blazing Light (Kyle Cummings). Co-owned by Kathy Schoeffel and James Reuther, the eight-year-old Stranger Things (Western Terror-Southwind Prairie) is trained by Angelo Nappo.
The final week of live racing at Buffalo Raceway begins on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. with 11 races going to the post. The New York Sire Stakes makes its final appearance of the year with a $106,300 USD race for the two-year-old colt and gelding trotters. There will also be two $20,000 USD events in the Excelsior Series.
(With files from Buffalo Raceway)