Adriano Hanover buries feature race field

HAMBURG, N.Y. — Adriano Hanover toyed with the field for the first three quarters of a mile in Buffalo

Raceway’s $12,300 featured harness racing pace on Saturday night (Jan. 29) but when it was time to go, boy did he go.

Driver Drew Monti gave Adriano Hanover the green light just past the final pole and used a :28.2 final split to bury the field by a throttled down 6-3/4 lengths in 1:58.1 over the good track.

Paprike Blue Chip (Shawn McDonough) took the place spot with Endeavors Pride (Kevin Cummings) finishing in third.

After a minor skirmish with Silver Beast in the battle for the lead, Adriano Hanover paced out fractions of :30.4, 1:00.4 and 1:29.4. But hitting the final marker, Adriano Hanover, enjoying just a length advantage, was off like a flash and had the remaining six participants soon in surrender mode.

Owned by Rocco Stebbins and trained by Joe Skowyra, Adriano Hanover (Western Ideal– A And G’sconfusion) is a 5-year-old horse that now has earned $201,582 lifetime.

In the sub-featured $10,600 Open III Trot, Schnickel Fritz (Kyle Cummings) was the second longest shot on the

board in the compact field of five and his faithful followers were rewarded with a solid $29.00 win price. He beat Photo Bomber (Kevin Cummings) by 1-3/4 lengths in 2:01.4 while Warrawee Shipshape (Drew Monti) rolled in for third.

J-S Swanman took control of the top from the rail and produced an opening half of 1:01.2. Schnickel Fritz, who sat in fourth, went first over the backstretch the final time and took the lead with a quarter mile to trot. It was all over from there as Schnickel Fritz had no serious challengers and took the convincing victory.

Owned by Michael Ohol Jr. and Steven Gross, the 7-year-old gelded Schnickel Fritz (Dontyouforgetit-The Power Of Magic) has earned $137,941 in his lifetime.

Kevin Cummings finished with a driving triple while Monti and Jim McNeight Jr. each had doubles. Gerry Sarama had three training victories while Jim McNeight notched two.

Racing will continue on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. with an 8-race program slated. There will be a guaranteed pool of $3,000 in the Pick-5 which begins in the second race.

For full race results, click here.

by Brian J. Mazurek, for Buffalo Raceway