Freshman breaks record in $104,400 NYSS

HAMBURG, N.Y. — American Fling (American Ideal-Feeling You) set the Buffalo Raceway harness racing track record for the 2-year-old gelding pacers on Wednesday afternoon (July 13) by winning the $104,400 New York Sire Stakes for the freshmen in 1:55.1 over the fast track. He beat Its A Me Mario again for the third consecutive race, this time by a length.

The old mark for the geldings was 1:56.1 established on June 30, 2021 by Pickup Man Hanover.

It appeared that American Fling ($2.80) was going to cut the early fractions but Bandito Joe (Matt Kakaley) bolted to the top and put up splits of :28.2, :57.0 and 1:26.3. Those proved to be a little ambitious in the long run as American Fling (Jim Morrill Jr.) tipped out from the pocket and brought along Its A Me Mario (Lauren Tritton) heading into the stretch.

Down the lane, American Fling wasn’t going to be denied. A :28.2 final quarter mile erased any hopes of Its A Me Mario who had to settle for another second place finish in the Sire Stakes competition. Bandito Joe hung on for the third place check.

Co-owned by Randall Bendis, Reed Broadway and Pollack Racing LLC, American Fling is now a perfect 3-for-3 in the NYSS races. He is conditioned by Edward Hart and the victory zoomed American Fling’s bankroll to $104,575 on the season.

Human Cocktail (Huntsville-Lotsa Matzah, $4.20) put up steady fractions then used a :28.3 last panel to seal the 1-3/4 length decision over Hunting Zone in the $15,000 Excelsior A race. Driven by Morrill Jr. and trained by Gareth Dowse, Human Cocktail  is owned by Stephen Demeter.

Wasn’t Me (American Ideal-Miss Innocent, Kyle Cummings) made it a perfect 3-for-3 in the $6,600 Excelsior B Series by going gate to wire in 1:58.4, beating Universe Blue Chip (Kevin Cummings) by five lengths. Co-owned by trainer Jim Graham, Tim Warner, Ed Peron and Paul Tandlmayer, Wasn’t Me returned $2.30 for the win.

Buffalo Raceway’s 2022 Driver Of The Meet, Morrill Jr., didn’t rest on his laurels as he produced a five-bagger during the afternoon. Trainer Samuel Smith had two victories.

The final two cards of the 2022 season will take place on Friday and Saturday afternoons with 10-race programs to commence each day at 1:30 p.m. The simulcast center will close after the action on Sunday afternoon.

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

For complete race results, click here.

by Brian J. Mazurek, for Buffalo Raceway