Castyourcrown captures Open Trot crown

HAMBURG, N.Y. — Castyourcrown (Dontyouforgetit-Future Cast) let J-s Hopscotch do all the heavy lifting in Buffalo Raceway’s $15,500 Open Trot on Friday afternoon (May 5) but in the end, he proved to be the strongest of the harness racing field.

J-s Hopscotch watched Castyourcrown take the early control off the starting gate but driver Kyle Cummings immediately put him back on the point. With fractions of :29.0, :58.4 and 1:28.1 posted by J-s Hopscotch, the final panel was going to decide the outcome.

Driver David McNeight III wasted no time in getting the pocket sitting Castyourcrown to the outside at the top of the stretch. From there, Castyourcrown was in attack mode and just powered past the pace setter to register the $19.00 upset victory by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:57.2. J-s Hopscotch had to settle for second place honors with Yucatan Party Man (Keith Kash Jr.) taking third.

Co-owned by Blake Daniels and the Never Give Up Racing, the 5-year-old gelded Castyourcrown is trained by Michael Deruntz. The victory was the fourth in 16 outings for Castyourcrown, now a winner of $40,652 in 2023 and $197,630 lifetime.

In the $11,500 Trot, Alan ($5.10) responded nicely after suffering a nose loss in the Open Trot on April 28 and beat Mugshots Bro by a neck in 1:59.2 over the fast track.

Getting a bit of class relief, Alan (Kevin Cummings) wasted no time in firing off to the lead, posting splits of :29.4, 1:00.1 and 1:29.4. Alan was helped along the way as the favored Batting Stats and Lady Ruth each broke stride along the way.

Things got a little dicey in the lane however as Alan began to drift out, allowing Mugshots Bro (Dan Yetman) and J-s Swanman (Joseph Chindano) an opportunity to cut into the margin on the inside. But Alan was resilient enough in the stretch to hold on for the diminishing neck win. Mugshot Bro took the second place check while J-s Swanman was third.

Owned by Julie Wagonblott and trained by Joe Alba, it was the fifth victory in 12 tries for the 7-year-old gelded Alan (Dontyouforgetit-Betty Jean). The win vaulted his seasonal earnings to $46,508 and $172,428 in his career.

Jim Morrill Jr. completed the afternoon with four tallies while James McNeight, Chindano Jr. and McNeight II each collected doubles. Trainer Michael Ohol notched two victories on the day.

Racing will resume on Saturday afternoon with a special 2:30 p.m. post to accommodate the running of the Kentucky Derby. The 12-race program will feature the $14,500 Open I-II Pace along with a trio of $11,500 events for high classed pacers.

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by Brian J. Mazurek, for Buffalo Raceway