HAMBURG, N.Y. --- The old saying goes, 'Nice guys finish last.' Well, in Buffalo Raceway's $14,000 Open Pace on Saturday night (March 2), the nice guy finished first, Vel Mr Nice Guy ($18.00) that is.

 

Photo by John Emmerling
Vel Mr Nice Guy rallies late to take Open Pace.

Rallying from the pocket in deep stretch, Vel Mr Nice Guy (Joseph Chindano Jr.) managed to poke a head in front in the shadow of the wire to pin a heartbreaking loss on the pace setting Umberto (David McNeight III) in 1:54.3 over the fast track. Lip Reader A (Drew Monti) finished in third.

 

In the co-featured $14,000 Trot, Chindano Jr. made it a clean sweep of the features as he guided Jacked ($9.60) to an easy three length victory over Dahlquist Hanover in a lifetime best of 1:56.4.

 

It was opening night at Buffalo Raceway and General Manager Jon Cramer said, "We are off to a great start. The clubhouse was packed and we got a lot of positive comments on the mew high definition and graphics both in-house and on-line." 

 

The first feature saw Umberto and Vel Mr Nice Guy battle for bragging rights to the open quarter. Umberto was extremely stubborn and forced Vel Mr Nice Guy back into the pocket in a sizzling :27.4. 

 

With panels of :57.3 and 1:25.4 in the books, Umberto knew things were going to get dicey in the final panel. With Alta Engen A and Lip Reader A tipping wide to make their  bids on the far outside, Vel Mr Nice Guy waited patiently for a seam to open up down the lane. It did. 

 

Chindano Jr. and Vel Mr Nice Guy took full advantage of the gap and managed to squeeze by Umberto in the final strides.

Photo by John Emmerling
Jacked cruises to an easy victory in Open Trot.

Owned by Jeff Savidge Racing LLC and trained by Maggie Chindano, it was the second win in seven tries for Vel Mr Nice Guy (Straight Shooter-She Can Dance). The victory upped his seasonal winnings to $14,375 and $212,405 lifetime. 

 

In the top race for the sidewinders, Dahlquist Hanover (Jim Morrill Jr.) tried to bottom out the field with testy fractions of :28.2, :57.1 and 1:27 but those proved to be too ambitious. Jacked took advantage of the hot splits and got into the high gear with a quarter mile to trot, eventually blasting by the tempo setter. Credit List (Kyle Cummings) took the show position.

 

Co-owned by Vogel & Wags Nags LLC and Dr. Michael Miller, it was the first victory in six tries for the 5-year-old gelded Jacked (Muscle Mass-Krafty). The win moved his 2024 winnings to $12,960 and $125,383 in his career.

 

Racing will return on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. with a 14-race card scheduled.

 

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