Total Stranger and Shine All The Way had the last say in the Buffalo Raceway Open classes for their respective gait as they won the final top-level dashes of the season on Saturday, July 18.
It had been nearly a month since Total Stranger found his way to the winner's circle, but he reached victory lane again after a half-length victory over Lanjo Lee in the $20,704 Open Pace.
Total Stranger (John Cummings Jr.) went out to the early lead and notched splits of :28.2 and :57 to the half. He then tried to bottom out the field, opening up a six-length advantage down the backstretch. That cushion was quickly diminishing as the closers started to make themselves known approaching three-quarters in 1:26.1. Lanjo Lee (Kyle Cummings) and Lip Reader A (Drew Monti) got into striking distance down the lane but couldn't pass the pacesetter, who held on by a half-length in 1:55.2. Lip Reader A was third.
Total Stranger's victory was his first in a Buffalo Open for trainer Taylor Fritz and owner Fred Yellen. The stallion came to Western New York after his May 22 start at The Raceway at the Western Fair District and has raised his seasonal stats to seven wins from 19 starts with a pair of wins at Buffalo. The five-year-old Bettors Delight-Precocious Beauty stallion is now 12-for-72 lifetime with $393,805 in earnings. He paid $10.42 to win.
In the $20,704 Open Trot, Shine All The Way circled a shortened field of five as the longest shot on the board at 13-1. After the group went five-across into the first turn, Crazy Ritz (James McNeight Jr.) eventually wrangled the lead from El Toro Loco (Kevin Cummings) past the quarter in :28.2 and led through middle splits of :58.3 and 1:29.2. Heading to three-quarters, Shine All The Way went first over from fifth and overwhelmed Crazy Ritz around the final turn. The new leader remained strong down the stretch, holding off Dougadougadew (Kyle Cummings) for a three-quarter-length win in 1:58.2. Crazy Ritz finished third.
The win was the fifth in 21 tries on the season for Shine All The Way, a nine-year-old son of Dontyouforgetit-Heres Holly who is owned and trained by Jason Seymour. He has won 35 of his 172 career starts and earned $536,973. He returned $29.82 to win.
On closing day, Buffalo Raceway handed out its year-end awards.
Infinity Stone took home the 'Trotter of the Meet' award as he won eight times in 19 starts at Buffalo. His eight victories were the most among all horses this year, as were his earnings of $80,833. Owned by Caeleo Enterprises LLC and trained by David Russo, the eight-year-old II Sogno Dream-Magic Factory gelding also had two runner-up finishes and two thirds. His seasonal best effort was 1:56.3.
The 'Pacer of the Meet' went to Make My Deo, who is co-owned by Luis Ramirez and Frank Petrelli Jr. and trained by Chris Petrelli. He was a model of consistency on the year, as in 16 starts, the American Ideal-Electric Fool eight-year-old gelding produced six wins, six place finishes and a third. That win total was tied with three other pacers' for highest of the meet. He earned $38,154 at Buffalo this season and recorded a 1:55.4 mile as his fastest of the meet.
Samuel Smith won his fourth consecutive training title at Buffalo and did it with a career-best haul. Smith collected 70 wins on the meet and $593,475 USD in purse earnings, both lifetime highs at the track. In his past title runs, he had 49 victories in 2023, 62 in 2024 and 57 in 2025.
Drew Monti was the million-dollar man in collecting his second straight driving crown. The 31-year-old, who recently hit 3,000 career wins, showed the way with a lifetime-high 137 victories at Buffalo and a UDR of .353, the best among the regulars in the driver colony. Monti also went over the million-dollar USD mark for the first time at the Hamburg, N.Y. half-mile oval with $1,035,648 USD in earnings. He won the title last season with 122 victories.
All winners will receive $100 USD to the Harness Tack Shop and a photo.
Buffalo Raceway's 2026 live racing season has now concluded. Racing will return in March 2027.
(With files from Buffalo Raceway; photo of Total Stranger winning on July 18)