HAMBURG, N.Y. --- Kahoku made it a perfect 2-for-2 over the Buffalo Raceway half-mile oval on Friday evening (Feb. 26) by going gate-to-wire to effortlessly beat Justgottogetthere by 2-3/4 lengths in the featured $8,200 trot.

 

In his debut at Buffalo Raceway on February 19, Kahoku (Truman Gale) cruised to a two-length decision in 2:01.3 over a sloppy track. Now stepping up a notch, he had no issues once again in trotting away from his seven rivals by rolling to a 2:00.1 decision on the fast track.

 

Kahoku, who was racing at Northfield Park, had no trouble in setting the tempo from the pylons. He set steady fractions of 30.0, 1:00.1 and 1:30.0 and faced no opposition in the drive to the wire. It was a battle for the minor spoils with Justgottogetthere (Jim McNeight) rallying for second and Strong Hope (Jack Flanigen) taking third.

 

Trained by Mark Laidlaw and co-owned by Colleen Girdlestone and Michael Gentner, Kahoku (SJ's Caviar-Tags Goal) is an 8-year-old gelding that now has put $10,760 in the bank this season and $137,822 lifetime.

 

Gale celebrated his birthday with a pair of victories while Flanigen, Ray Fisher Jr. and Ronnie Wrenn Jr. doubled. Maria Rice had two training victories.

 

The best card of the season is on tap for Saturday night at Buffalo Raceway beginning at 6 p.m. There's $116,500 in purse money up for grabs with the $24,000 finals of the Niatross Knockout Claiming Series set along with the $10,000 consolation and the $10,000 Open Pace to highlight the program.