by Brian Mazurek,
for Buffalo Raceway
HAMBURG, N.Y. --- Jim Morrill Jr. has been dominating Friday
nights at Buffalo Raceway the past few weeks with seven wins on a card becoming
a regular occurrence. Driver Billy Davis Jr. wanted to get in on the act and
has taken over Wednesday evenings.
Making the weekly trip from Flamboro Downs, Davis Jr. is
sure liking the Hamburg half-mile oval as he posted a seven-bagger, the first
of his career, to highlight the Wednesday night action (April 20). He has now
won 25 times in just 77 starts.
It's the fourth time in 2016 that a driver has seven wins on
a program at Buffalo with Morrill Jr. doing it three times and Davis Jr. once.
Kevin Cummings' record of eight still stands from June 11, 2005.
For Morrill Jr.,
he made the most of his one drive of the night as he drove the heavily-favored Dontch Remember ($4.80) to a nose victory over
Fashion Katie in the $9,000 featured pace for the mares.
By guiding Dontch Remember
to her third win of the campaign in a seasonal best 1:57.0, Morrill Jr. took over sole possession of
first place in the driver's standings with 52 victories in just 108 starts.
He'll have plenty of opportunity on Friday night to increase his margin as
he is scheduled to drive in all 11 races.
It was a three-way battle to the top as Nutmegs Yankee, Mach
This Way and Memumsnotnice all wanted
command at the quarter pole. When the dust settled, Memumsnotnice came away with the lead and put of fractions of
28..0, 57.0 and 1:26.4. Those hot fractions proved to be costly in the end.
Dontch Remember, who
wanted no part of the lead, and sat back in fourth. Going first over at the
half and methodically cutting into the lead of Memumsnotnice,
Dontch Remember finally gained control
midway down the stretch.
It wasn't clear sailing, however, as Dontch Remember had to hold off the late rally of Fashion Katie
(Drew Monti) and Nutmegs Yankee (Truman Gale) who finished second and third
respectively.
Owned by Michael Torcello
and trained by Gerry Sarama, Dontch Remember (Western Terror-Dreamsicle) is a 6-year-old mare that has
earned $15,300 this season and $144,413 lifetime.
Todd Cummings had a driving double while trainers Jim
Graham, John Mungillo and JD Perrin each had two victories.
Racing will resume on Friday night at 5 p.m. with an 11-race
card scheduled. There's a $1,884 carryover in the Pick-5 which begins in the
fifth race.
For more information including the latest news, race
replays, results and upcoming promotions, go to www.buffaloraceway.com
