by James Witherite, Tioga Downs
racing media
Road Untraveled makes all
the difference in Tioga co-feature
Nichols, NY -- Fresh off a pair
of second-place finishes at Pocono, Road Untraveled ($3.20) made a strong early
push to the fore and never looked back en route to a 1:50.1 victory in one of
two co-featured $8,800 upper-level conditioned pacing events on Sunday (May 3)
afternoon at Tioga Downs.
Driver Mike Simons pushed to
the lead with seven-year-old Grinfromeartoear of in the initial stages, but
couldn't back down the pace after clearing Hurricane Howard (Jim Marohn, Jr.)
in a :26.4 initial quarter due to strong pressure from the first-over American
Island (John Cummings, Jr.) through a :54.2 first half. On the
backstretch, Road Untraveled turned aside American Island's threat,
subsequently sprinting clear of his pocket rival Hurricane Howard to prevail by
3-3/4 lengths in a decisive 1:50.1. Hurricane Howard held second, while
Artistic Major (Aaron Byron) was urged to stay even late, holding third off a
tracking trip.
Mike Simons's son Shawn handles
the training duties of the 16-time winner, while the elder Simons shares
ownership of Road Untraveled with Christopher Giaccio.
While Road Untraveled kicked
clear after setting the pace, Cobble Beach ($6.00) rallied off cover before a
slingshot move to a 5-3/4 length win in the other co-featured event. The
five-year-old Artiscape gelding drafted behind the cover of Oh My Joepa (Corey
Braden) on the backstretch, pushing to the fore when John Cummings, Jr. moved
him three-wide on the far turn. Cobble Beach drew clear at will through
the stretch, soundly defeating Oh My Joepa and Dreamlands Art (Simons) in
1:52.3.
James Clouser, Jr. owns and
trains the 11-time winner.
Marohn wins five in Tioga
return
After Mike Simons won five
races on Opening Night, perennial leading driver Jim Marohn, Jr. returned to
Tioga for the Sunday afternoon card, registering five wins of his own on the
11-race program. In addition to a 1:51.4 win with Prairie Jaguar ($7.00)
in a third-level conditioned event, he was victorious aboard Stonebridge Tonic
($5.10, 1:52.1), Affluenza ($4.10, 1:51.4), Terrys Star Dragon ($7.70, 1:53.1),
and Brandons Escape ($13.20, 1:53.3). Simons scored a Sunday driving
double, as did John Cummings, Jr. and Brandon Simpson.
Live racing returns to Tioga on
Friday (May 8) evening, with first post scheduled for 6:15 p.m. eastern time.
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