Nichols, N.Y. -- John Cummings, Jr. enjoyed a banner Saturday
(June 11) at Tioga Downs, taking the lone $7,500 second-round Williams Auto
Group late-closing preliminary race with Makers Mass ($3.70, part of entry) as
part of a four-win night.
Makers Mass used a first-over blitz on approach to the far
turn to wear down and sprint off from Thats a Bad Boy (Tyler Freese) at the
eighth pole. The 3-year-old Muscle Mass gelding drew off by 3-1/2 lengths for a
decisive 1:55.3 triumph over Thats a Bad Boy, while Golden Son (Gary Clark)
stalked the winner's cover loosely en route to a third-place finish.
Megan Wilson trains Muscle Mass for owner-breeder Alan
Hainsworth.
Later in the evening, Cummings found a seam up the pegs on
the far turn with Allen Sisco trainee Stratocaster ($8.40), sprinting through
for a 1:51.1 win in the featured $9,000 Open 2 Pace over Mortal Zin (Aaron
Byron) and Pierce (Nick Surick).
Cummings also teamed up with DC Flashback ($9.80, 1:56.2)
and Ang's Delight ($4.00, 1:54.1) on the 13-race card.
The top trotting event of the evening, an $8,200 upper-level
conditioned event, saw Prairie Fortune ($13.80) sweep clear off a far-turn
duel, drawing off by 2-3/4 lengths for a 1:55.1 victory in rein to Jim
Meittinis.
The 50¢ Pick 5 was hit for $288.25, nearly five times what
the corresponding win parlay would yield. The sequence closed with an
authoritative front-end 1:57.1 win from odds-on favorite Brandos Muscle Man and
driver Monica Banca in a $6,000 C.K.G. Billings event for amateur drivers.
Live racing returns to Tioga Downs on Sunday (June 12)
afternoon, with a blockbuster 15-race card due to begin at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.
