Two-year-old pacers took center stage at Tioga Downs on Friday (September 12) evening, contesting their divisions of the W.N. Reynolds Memorial Stake on the penultimate program of the 2014 season.
And while Hall Of Terror (Marcus Miller, $3.50) turned in a mightily impressive :54.4 final half-mile in his victory, top honours went to Dealt A Winner ($3.90), who set a new track record for two-year-old pacing geldings.
The son of Cams Card Shark was well off the pace early in the 10th race, moving second-over behind Shooby Said (Jim Marohn Jr.) after Gallic Beach (Tim Tetrick) brushed from mid-pack to the fore in a sensible :56.4 half-mile. On the backstretch, David Miller angled Dealt A Winner three-wide, pushing past Shooby Said into a joint lead with Gallic Beach on the far turn. The two dueled through the stretch, with Dealt A Winner taking over outright in the final sixteenth and drawing clear for a one-length win. Sicily (Corey Callahan) tracked live three-wide cover on the backstretch, staying on for third.
Dealt A Winner's 1:52.3 victory took a second off the prior track record for two-year-old pacing geldings. Ed Hart handles the training duties for owner Jeffrey Snyder.
McArdles Lightning (Scott Zeron, 1:53.3) and Dragon Eddy (Mike Simons, 1:53.3) were the other two winners in the Reynolds divisions for two-year-old colts and geldings.
Corey Callahan teamed up with two freshman fillies for Reynolds wins as part of a Friday driving hat trick, holding sway with Divine Caroline (1:53.1) and kicking clear with Bettor B Steppin (1:53.3) in their stakes splits. Deli Beach (John Campbell, 1:55) was the other triumphant filly in the evening's stakes races.
The closing night (Saturday, September 13) program at Tioga features an 11-race card, with post time scheduled for 6:15 p.m. EDT.
(Tioga Downs)