Morrill Jr. wins six including features

HAMBURG, N.Y. — It was quite a Friday afternoon (April 25) for driver Jim Morrill Jr. as he rolled to six harness racing wins on the 11-race card at Buffalo Raceway, sweeping both featured events along the way.

Morrill Jr. was aboard Beacon Beach (Resolve) who took the $14,500 Open Trot while earlier in the card, he guided Starlitcresentroll to an easy score in the $12,500 event for the sidewinders. He also collected victories with Johnny Boy ($3.90), Santana Beach ($6.20), Gone Crazee ($5.90) and Anurka ($4.50).

In the main event, the favored Valentine Express (Drew Monti) was able to cut the fractions of :29.1, :58.1 and 1:28.0 but had Beacon Beach ($5.30) catching a perfect pocket trip. Turning for home, Valentine Express stayed strong until the final strides as Beacon Beach made one final push and notched the neck victory in a season’s best 1:57.2. Dealin With Dewey (Brett MacDonald), last week’s winner, earned third place honors after starting in the outside eight post.

Owned by El Dorado Stables and Michael Torcello, the 5-year-old gelded Beacon Beach (Resolve-Black Caviar) has now won twice in five starts this season, pushing his 2025 earnings to $23,490 and to $133,209 lifetime. He is conditioned by Samuel Smith.

In the $12,500 trot which topped the undercard, Starlitcresentroll ($3.10) made it two consecutive victories with an easy 2-1/4 length win over Newsboy in 1:58.2.

Last week, Starlitcresentroll (Morrill Jr.) jogged to an easier 6-3/4 score in 1:57.2 and this time around, he didn’t face much competition once again versus the same company in posting the convincing score.

The most energy Starlitcresentroll had to exert was having to deal with Newsboy in reaching the top. After being parked for nearly the first quarter mile Starlitcresentroll was in cruise control the rest of the way, thanks to splits of :30.0, :59.2 and 1:29.3. The only battle remaining was for second place with Newsboy (Monti) taking that over Double Class (David McNeight III).

Owned by the Lucky Label Stables LLC and trained by Taylor Fritz, the 6-year-old Starlitcresentroll (Crescent Fashion-Nirvana Blue Chip), got his second triumph of the year in eight tries. The victory increased his seasonal bankroll to $19,650 and to $118,159 in his career.

Fritz and Smith each finished the afternoon with two training wins.

Racing will continue on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. with a 13-race program scheduled.

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: US Trotting results.

by Brian J. Mazurek, for Buffalo Raceway