The fireworks started two days early at Buffalo Raceway as American Bull was as hot as a firecracker in deep stretch and blew up the toteboard with a $38.20 victory in the featured $9,000 Open II Pace on Saturday night (July 2).
Getting a pocket journey for most of the mile, American Bull (Todd Cummings) was able to win the cavalry charge to the finish by beating Jolt Of Whiskey (Kevin Cummings) by a neck while Bad Fox (Lee Dahn) took third.
Big Bad George played give-and-go with American Bull to set the tempo with times of :30, :59.2 and 1:29.1. But in the final panel of pacing action, the favoured Big Bad George was in retreat mode while American Bull, Jolt Of Whiskey and Bad Fox were gearing up three-wide heading for the wire.
Using the passing lane, American Bull had all the momentum in the shadow of the finish line to power past Jolt Of Whiskey and Bad Fox in 1:58.
Owned by Sidney Easton and trained by Anthony Cummings, American Bull (American Ideal-Touch Of Pearls) is a five-year-old gelding that has two wins in 11 appearances this season. The win upped his 2016 bankroll to $15,210 and lifetime earnings to $104,273.
It was a great night for Shawn McDonough as he drove home four winners and had a pair of training victories while Drew Monti had a triple in the bike. Maria Rice had a training double.
Racing will resume on Sunday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. with a 12-race program scheduled.
(With files from Buffalo Raceway)