by Brian J. Mazurek, for Buffalo Raceway

HAMBURG, N.Y. --- It's not too often when you can catch driver Jim Morrill Jr. at a long price. Friday afternoon (July 21) it was a rare occurrence.

Photo by Bill Burke
Dandys Bb Eight gets $64.50 victory.

Morrill Jr., who has clinched his third consecutive driving title at Buffalo Raceway this season, hopped aboard to catch drive Dandys Bb Eight for owner/trainer Rock Vinci in the fifth race and he caught the fans off guard with a $64.50 victory.

Later on the card, the Morrill Jr. and Vinci combination struck again as Pogey Beach took a $13.60 mild surprise in the tenth event.

If you wanted a huge upset, you had to wait until the final race on the card as Missevil posted a $105.00 score for driver Tom Mays.

In the fifth race stunner, Larjon Legacy (Keith Kash Jr.) cut the fractions of :28.4, :58.2 and 1:28.3 to the three quarter pole. Dandys Bb Eight was seventh but caught some live cover from JD's Macca Lodge (Joseph Chindano Jr.) and Catch The Wave (James McNeight Jr.). Turning for home, Morrill Jr. masterfully guided Dandy's Bb Eight into striking position and easily chugged past Larjon Legacy by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:59.4. JD's Macca Lodge took the show position.

It was the second victory in 24 appearances for the 4-year-old Dandy's Bb Eight (World Of Rocknroll-U All Bb). The gelding has now earned $10,990 on the season, $104,739 in his lifetime.

The chase for the Buffalo Raceway 'Trainer of the Meet' will come down to Samuel Smith and David Russo on Saturday evening. Smith leads with 47 wins on the season while Russo has collected 45 victories. Russo pulled within two wins thanks to a training triple on Friday while Smith found the winner's circle just once.

On the 13-race program coming up on closing night, Smith has six horses entered while Russo has four. The pair will go head to head in three of those races which will likely settle the score.

Kevin Cummings completed the afternoon with five victories on the card. He's just three scores away from hitting the 100-win mark for the 2023 season at Buffalo Raceway. He could hit that plateau as he is named to drive in 11 of the 13 races on Saturday's card.

Chindano Jr. and Morrill Jr. finished off the day with driving doubles.

Post time for the live season finale is 6 p.m. Simulcasting will close after the action on Sunday, July 23 and will reopen in February of 2024.

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