HAMBURG, N.Y. --- Shagnwiththedragon wasn't going to
disappoint his backers in his Buffalo Raceway debut on Saturday night (March
16) as he showed plenty of heart in holding off Upfront Country by a neck in
the featured $11,000 Class AA Open pace.
Sent off as the heavy 2-to-5 chalk, Shagnwiththedragon (Drew
Monti) was able to thwart the
challenge of a stubborn Upfront Countryboy (Shawn McDonough)
who had to settle for the heart-breaking place position while Golden Gesture
(Denny Bucceri) took third.
Just arriving from Northfield Park and Miami Valley in Ohio,
Shagnwiththedragon ($2.90) managed to reach the top with only minor pressure
and settled in to register splits of :28.3, :57.3 and 1:28.0 over the good
track.
It became a match race down the stretch as
Shagnwiththedragon and Upfront Countryboy battled it out to the wire with the
newcomer holding on by a neck in 1:58.2.
Co-owned by Tessa Roland and Eim Racing, the JD Perrin
trained Shagnwiththedragon (Dragon Again-Lady Terror) is a 5-year-old gelding
that has won $15,600 this year and $82,806 in his career.
In the sub-featured $9,500 Class A paces, Heaven Rocks
(Monti) took the first division with an easy 5-1/4 length drubbing of the field
in 1:57.4 while Littlebitaclass (Kevin Cummings) used a final push at the lamp
to nudge past China Dream by a neck in 1:59.1.
Heaven Rocks ($8.40) was strong on the front end from start
to finish and never was threatened in beating Sunset Sid (Ray Fisher Jr.) and
Rebel Voyager (Billy Davis Jr.).
Using fractions of :28.3, :58.3 and 1:28.1, Heaven Rocks was
in command down the stretch jogging freely under the wire.
Owned by Roland and conditioned by Perrin, Heaven Rocks
(Rock N Roll Heaven-Cheerful Outlook) is a 7-year-old gelding who notched his
first victory of 2019 in nine attempts. The win jacked his seasonal earnings to
$13,065 and $200,362 lifetime.
Littlebitofclass stunned the field in the second division
with a $28.60 victory over the favored China Dream (Davis Jr.).
Letting China Dream cut the splits of :29.1, :59.2 and
1:29.0, Littlebitaclass floated to the outside coming the down and and had just
enough left in the tank to squeeze out the narrow victory.
Mike Torcello owns the 8-year-old gelded Littlebitaclass
(Santanna Blue Chip-Aspirinne Semalu). Conditioned by Gerry Sarama, the win
moved his bankroll to $10,585 this season and $281,955 lifetime.
Monti and Bucceri each had three driving wins on the night
with Kevin Cummings getting a pair. Perrin, Sarama and Mike Ohol scored
training doubles.
Racing will continue on Wednesday evening with a 13-race
card scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. There will be a $590 carryover in the Pick-5
which begins in the second race.
For more information including the latest mews, race
replays, results, entries, upcoming promotions and simulcast schedule, go to www.buffaloraceway.com
