HAMBURG, N.Y. --- After being claimed for $17,500 last week by owner Michael Torcello, Endeavors Pride ($17.00) made his first return on that investment by winning Buffalo Raceway's featured $11,300 Class AA-Open Handicapped Pace on Saturday night (May 29) in 1:54.3. He beat Daylight Rush by a solid length while Black Is Back was third.

Photo by Bill Burke
Endeavors Pride makes first return on investment.

 

It was a clean sweep of the features by the trio of Torcello, trainer Gerry Sarama and driver Jim Morrill Jr. as they connected with Southern Palms who collected the decision in the $9,800 Class A-Open Handicapped Trot. The threesome combined to grab three victories on the program while Morrill Jr. steered home four winners.

 

Black Is Back worked hard but eventually got to the lead in the main event, setting the tempo with fractions of :28.1, :56.3 and 1:25.3 over the good track. Endeavors Pride was widest of all in the lane, decisively outpacing Daylight Rush (David McNeight III) and Black Is Back (Shawn McDonough) who finished second and third respectively.

 

Endeavors Pride (Keystone Endeavor-Gingerbread Square) is a 7-year-old gelding that has now produced $16,071 in earnings on the campaign and $186,207 in his career.

 

A trio of noses hit the wire together and it took a photo to extract the winner out of the co-featured $9,800 Class A-Open Handicapped Trot. After an examination by the judges, Southern Palms ($5.80) was able to claim the victory over a heartbroken Keystone Apache and All About Thechase in 1:58.2.

 

Photo by Bill Burke
Southern Palms (#3) gets up to win by nose in trot feature.

With Keystone Apache leading the way with panels of :30.0, :59.3 and 1:29.2, the pocket sitting Southern Palms (Morrill Jr.) swung out at the top of the stretch and grabbed the lead in the shadow of the finish line, beating Keystone Apache (Travis Henry) by a nose. All About Thechase (Mike Caprio) just missed by a little more than a nose and settled for the third place check.

 

It was the fourth victory in 12 starts this season for the 8-year-old gelded Southern Palms (RC Royalty-Pacific Elegance). The win moved his seasonal earnings to $25,079 and $385,247 lifetime.

 

In the $9,600 Class A Pace, Sir Pugsley, a tough luck loser by a neck last week, made amends this time around with an impressive two length triumph over Dojea Solo in 1:54.3. The Lunch Pail (Kyle Cummings) took the third place position.

 

Sir Pugsley (Drew Monti) took command of the top with panels of ;29.2, :58.1 and 1:27.0 and used a final quarter split of :27.3 to post the popular $2.60 victory.

 

Conditioned by Rose Russo and owned by Robert Woodburn, Sir Pugsley (American Ideal-Q And A), a 7-year-old horse, has produced $21,950 in earnings in 2021 and $392,819 in his career. 

 

Drew Monti got a driving triple and Travis Henry a double while Jerry Nugent Jr. picked up a pair of training victories.

 

Racing will continue on Wednesday evening with an 8-race card scheduled. to begin at 5 p.m.

 

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