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Thursday, July 9, 2020

Gia's Surreal Goes Last To First At Buffalo

by Brian J. Mazurek, for Buffalo Raceway

 HAMBURG, N.Y. --- Gia's Surreal ($5.30) went from last to first and collected her third straight win in the $11,500 Class A-Open Handicapped Pace for the fillies and mares with a head victory over Blacknsweet Adda A in 1:55.0 at Buffalo Raceway on Wednesday evening (July 8).

 After a fourth place finish in her initial start of the season back on June 3, Gia's Surreal (John Cummings Jr.) has been dynamite since then with a powerful late closing kick which has allowed her to roll to three consecutive scores.

 Blacknsweet Adda A (Kevin Cummings) managed to take control of the front end and posted fractions of :28.0, :57.1 and 1:26.1 over the fast track. Gia's Surreal rode the tailgate from sixth but put herself three-wide turning for home and drove past Blacknsweet Adda A late while Lady London (Ray Fisher Jr.) took the show position.

 Co-owned by trainer Jim Graham, Lee Winters, John Mariano and Ed Peron, it was the third victory in four tries for the 4-year-old mare Gia's Surreal (So Surreal-Nancy Irene). The triumph increased her 2020 bankroll to $18,130 and $169,691 lifetime.

 In the $11,500 Class A-Open Handicap Trot, it appeared that it was going to be another heavyweight battle between the boys, Bred For Greatness and Lougazi, but someone forgot to tell the lone mare in the race, Victoria Swan.

 Grabbing the lead just before the opening quarter, Victoria Swan (Drew Monti) left the boys in the dust and notched an impressive three length win over Bred For Greatness (Kevin Cummings) in a seasonal best 1:57.2. Noble Legend (Billy Davis Jr.) took the show position.

 Bred For Greatness took the lead off the starting gate but Victoria Swan wanted no part of that strategy. Taking the top, Victoria Swan put up splits of :29.3, :58.3 and 1:28.1 and that proved to be more than enough to take the starch out of the boys. 

 Co-owned by RBH Ventures, Inc. and Spagnola Racing LLC, the 4-year-old mare is trained by Sabrina Shaw. It was the fourth victory for Victoria Swan (Swan For All-Victoria Sahbra) who has earned $22,604 on the campaign and $119,639 in her career.

 Davis Jr. completed the evening with four wins in the sulky with Monti posting a triple. Graham, Maria Rice and Shaw all had a pair of training victories.

 Racing will resume at 6 p.m. on Saturday evening with a 13-race card scheduled.

 For more information including the latest news, race replays, entries and results, go to www.buffaloraceway.com