Stranger Things turns it up to 11

HAMBURG, N.Y. –— Stranger Things literally let Daylight Rush do the dirty work over the sloppy track at Buffalo Raceway on Saturday night (July 17) but cleaned up in the end with a stunning $57.00 harness racing victory in the $11,500 Class AA pace.

With the heavily favored Daylight Rush cutting the splits with fractions of :29.1, :58.0 and 1:27.2 over the rain-soaked half mile oval, Stranger Things (Kyle Cummings) followed along in the pocket.

Turning for home, Daylight Rush (David McNeight III) tried to hang on but Stranger Things and Art Scene converged on the leader. Things were tight at the end with a three-way photo needed to call the winner. Stranger Things finished getting a head in front of the hard-charging Art Scene (Shawn McDonough) while Daylight Rush had to settle for a tough luck third.

Stranger Things (Western Terror-Southwind Prairie) is conditioned by Angelo Nappo and is co-owned by Virginia Schoeffel, Kathy Schoeffel and Jim Reuther. The 5-year-old gelding has now won four of 23 starts on the season, earning $24,049 and $103,460 in his career.

In the $10,500 Class A Pace, Darbie’s Ideal ($2.50) found the front end to be the ‘ideal’ place to be and made every pole in winning one as he was victorious over Gallery Opening (Kevin Cummings) by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:55.4. Loaded Deck (McDonough) took the show position.

After a skirmish with Major Authority and Gallery Opening, Darbie’s Ideal (Ray Fisher Jr.) finally took control by hitting the opening panel in :28.3. The rest of the race boiled down to see if anyone could gun down Darbie’s Ideal but the remaining seven entrants came up shooting blanks.

Owned by the Swift Racing Stable and trained by Ryan Swift, Darbie’s Ideal is a 4-year-old horse who has posted three victories in 12 attempts in 2021. His bankroll increased to $19,665 on the year and $76,497 lifetime.

The season ending awards for the 2021 campaign were announced at Buffalo Raceway during the finale.
Morrill Jr., who had a double on the night, was the ‘Driver Of The Meet’ as he won 88 races while Gerry Sarama was the Trainer Of The Meet’ as he collected 63 victories. It was the first training title for Sarama at Buffalo Raceway.

The ‘Pacer Of The Meet’ went to R J P, ‘Trotter Of The Meet’ was Southern Palms while Protect Blue Chip claimed ‘Mare Of The Meet’ honors.

Racing is expected to resume in January, 2022.

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by Brian J. Mazurek, for Buffalo Raceway