HAMBURG, N.Y. --- "I expected him to do this," driver
Brett Miller after he guided Lone Survivor to the fastest time in the three
divisions of the New York Sire Stakes for the 3-year-old colt and gelding
pacers at Buffalo Raceway Wednesday night (May 27).
Lone Survivor (Art Major-Wenditone) cruised to an easy
six-length victory in 1:53.4 in taking his $39,900 leg.
In other Sire Stakes activity, K-Rock was nearly as
impressive after notching a 3-1/4 win in 1:54.0 while J Eagle Feather found the
winner's circle for the first time in his brief four-race career by covering
the mile in 1:56.0.
Miller took the blame for Lone Survivor's fifth place finish
last week in Sire Stakes competition at Tioga Downs and was more than ready for
redemption. "I drove this horse so bad last week," Miller said.
"He's a nice colt and I knew he was ready tonight."
Sitting fourth headed down the backstretch, Miller went
three-wide and paced away from the field. Quickly opening up a five-length edge
at the top of the stretch, Lone Survivor ($5.40) finished with a six length
advantage over runner up Artistic Major (Pat Lachance) and Americanprimetime
(Rick Dane Jr.) at the wire.
"I wasn't worried at all going up the
backstretch," Miller said about the final half-mile. "I was feeling
good about him. I just let him go and he did his thing," added
Miller about Lone Survivor's big backside move.
Trained by Sam De Pinto, it was the first victory in three
seasonal starts for Lone Survivor, now a winner of $21,532 this year and
$86,491 lifetime.
K-Rock had to tussle with We Think Alike in the opening
panel scrum and that proved to be the right move. Posting fractions of 27.0,
56.1 and 1:24.2, K-Rock never looked back and disposed of the remaining six
entrants easily by 3-1/4 lengths.
"I didn't want to sit third and get caught in
traffic," winning driver Matt Kakaley said of the decision to send K-Rock
to the top.
Enjoying a four-length advantage at the top of the lane,
Kakaley admitted that K-Rock was throttled down in the drive for the wire.
"He was kind of spent but still raced good. I think a 1:24.2 mark to the
three-quarter pole is a pretty good time for this track."
Southwind Masimo showed some good closing speed to take the
place position while Masterson (Jim Morrill Jr.) rallied for the show spot.
K-Rock (Rock N Roll Hanover-Sunduel A) is a 3-year-old
gelding that is owned by Eugene Kurzrok and trained by Ron Burke. It was his
second win in four starts in 2015 and pushed his seasonal winnings to $38,862
and $74,688 lifetime.
J Eagle Feather went gate-to-wire and held on to beat the
highly-regarded Sicily by a neck in 1:56.0. A final sizzling quarter-mile of
26.4 secured the win for J Eagle Feather.
Using some soft splits of 29.3, 59.2 and 1:29.2, Morrill Jr.
said in the winner's circle, "We got away with some cheap fractions. He's
never cut the mile before and still is very green. The only time I asked of him
was in the last quarter mile and he responded."
Sicily (Kakaley) took the hard-luck second place position
while Maurice (Lachance) was third.
Trained by Linda Toscano and owned by Kj Stables LLC, J
Eagle Feather (Bettor's Delight-Town Feather) picked up a nice check for
$19,600 his first place effort. He has been in the money three times in four
career appearances.
In the $15,000 Excelsior 'A' Series, Nobettorplacetobe
tripped the timer in a solid 1:54.3 time to register the $7.20 decision for
driver John Cummings Jr. In the other leg, Coaster (Kakaley) posted a popular
$2.20 score in 1:58.1.
Tonite We Rock covered the mile in 1:57.4 for driver Jack
Flanigen to take the $6,800 Excelsior 'B' Series event.
Kakaley and Morrill Jr. each finished the evening with
driving triples.
Racing continues on Friday night at Buffalo Raceway with a
13-race program scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
For more information including the latest news, upcoming
promotions, race replays and results, go to www.buffaloraceway.com
