Wally Hennessey and Mike Merton continued their dominance at Tioga Downs with five driving wins a piece on Saturday (Aug. 29).
Among his five wins, Hennessy captured the $6,500 featured fillies & mares’ pace with Tay Tay M ($5.00).
In the feature, Tay Tay M charged to the front from her outside post and led to the first quarter in :27.2 and decelerated to a :57.4 half. Gold Star Mysti came first-up to challenge as they reached the backstretch and harassed Tay Tay M all the way to three-quarters in 1:25.4.
As they made the turn for home Tay Tay M was too strong down the stretch and she won it easily in 1:54.1. Gold Star Mysti had to settle for second with Coveredndiamonds N coming up to finish third.
Tay Tay M is a six-year-old mare by Six Of Diamonds. She is owned by Richard Dunmire and trainer Kim Sears. It was her fourth win this season and her 17th win overall.
Hennessey got his other wins with Prairie Midnight ($16.20), Weekend Atnannies ($3.40), Odds On Cheddar ($2.10), and Verdi D Em ($4.30).
Merton got his five wins with Redemptionbluechip ($3.80), Real Lucky N ($2.70), Quick Deal ($10.00), Clarion Hall ($3.40), and A wish For Wings ($13.80).
Rob Harmon trained three winners on the day and leads all trainers with 38 wins. Gaston Lareau is second with 32 victories. Joe Skowyra is third with 27 tallies. Mike Deters (25) and Jim McDonald (24) round out the top five.
Tioga Downs returns to live racing on Sunday (Aug. 30). The 13-race card features the $104,400 New York Sire Stakes 2-year-old trotting colts & geldings. Post time is 1 p.m. (EDT).
(Tioga Downs)