Veteran pacer slices through traffic to win

HAMBURG, N.Y. — If Lip Reader A ($8.04) was a traffic cop, there wouldn’t be any gridlock on the roads.

Lip Reader A and driver Drew Monti were able to weave himself through plenty of traffic at the three-quarter pole and captured the victory in Buffalo Raceway’s $15,500 Open Pace on Saturday afternoon. He was able to beat Lanjo Lee by a length in a snappy 1:54.3 over the good track. All Bets On Tex (Brett MacDonald) took the show position.

With a wide open betting board in the featured pace, it was expected to be that on the track. It was.

In the early going, Toreador GB parked Flag Party through splits of :28.2 and :56.2 with Livnonjaxandqueens in the pocket.  All seven participants were tightly bunched and in contention heading down the backstretch the final time, but it was Lip Reader A (Drew Monti) who went three wide to get out of a jam and into contention..

Lanjo Lee (Kyle Cummings) also managed to slip through at the top of the lane and made a valiant effort to try and collar Lip Reader A but he had more than enough left in the tank to take the victory.

Co-owned by Vogel & Wags Nags LLC and Team Rice Racing LLC, it was the second victory in three tries this season for the 12-year-old Lip Reader A (Sportswriter-Strike Line). Trained by Maria Rice, Lip Reader A has  produced $15,740 in earnings on the season and $354,367 lifetime.

In the $15,500 Open Trot, Dealin With Dewey (Brett MacDonald) returned his winning ways with an easy gate-to-wire 2-1/4 length victory over Crazy Ritz in 1:57.0. Double Class (Kevin Cummings) took third.

After a dull fifth place effort last week in Buffalo Raceway’s Open Trot, Dealin With Dewey wanted to make sure he was in control this time around. Immediately firing off the starting gate, Dealin With Dewey ($3.12) had no issues reaching the top.

With comfortable splits of :29.0, :59.0 and 1:28.2 entered into the books, Dealin With Dewey had no issues in strolling to the open length score as Crazy Ritz (James McNeight Jr.) could only watch from behind.

Owned and trained by Sara Baillargeon, the 6-year-old Dealin With Dewey (Wheeling N Dealin-Rockin With Dewey) has now won twice in seven starts. The victory jacked his seasonal earnings to $18,521 and to $370,851 in his career.

David McNeight III, Kevin Cummings and MacDonald all tripled on the program while Monti registered a double, Trainers Mihajlo Zdjelar Jr. and Rice each had two victories,

Racing will return on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. with a 10-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