CR Blazin Beauty found an unfamiliar driver in the sulky for the $16,500 Open Trot on Saturday afternoon (July 2) at Buffalo Raceway and she sure did everything to impress him by registering a 1-3/4 length victory over Castyourcrown in a seasonal best 1:58.2.
Keith Kash Jr. got the catch-driving honours aboard CR Blazin Beauty ($11) and the pair became 'besties' quickly by combining on a perfectly rated trip to register the victory.
Using soft fractions of :29.2, 1:00.1 and 1:30 over the fast track, CR Blazin Beauty had plenty left in the tank to easily hold off the final efforts from Castyourcrown (Jim Morrill Jr.) and Lougazi (Ray Fisher Jr.) who had to settle for second and third place, respectively.
Owned by Marissa Russo and trained by David Russo, it was the fourth victory in 18 starts for the eight-year-old mare CR Blazin Beauty (Crazed - Melrose Abbey). The win upped her seasonal earnings to $53,504 and $377,372.
In the $16,500 Open Pace, Stop Action ($11) continued his spectacular season by charging late to top Out On Bail by a head in a seasonal best of 1:54. With 21 starts on the year, Stop Action has been in the money 16 times including eight victories.
Out On Bail (Morrill Jr.) cut the fractions on the perfect afternoon with splits of :27.4, :56.3 and 1:25.1. But those snappy times brought all the closers into play as Stop Action (Kevin Cummings), American Trademark and Just Plain Loco all fanned out across the stretch. It was a four-way photo at the line with Stop Action getting up late to grab the win while Out On Bail finished a tough luck second and American Trademark (Kash Jr.) third.
Trained by Angelo Nappo and owned by Super Mile LLC, the five-year-old gelded Stop Action (Somebeachsomewhere - The Show Returns) has produced $67,006 in earnings on the campaign and $143,750 in his career.
Drew Monti, Morrill Jr., Kevin Cummings, Kash Jr. and Kyle Cummings all had driving doubles with Nappo and David Russo each getting a pair of training wins.
Live harness racing will continue on Wednesday (July 6) at 1:30 p.m. with a pair of $51,500 New York Sire Stakes races scheduled for the two-year-old filly trotters. There will also be two $15,000 Excelsior A events along with a $6,200 non-betting Excelsior B affair that will go off at 1:10 p.m.
(Buffalo)