HAMBURG, N.Y. --- Shagnwiththedragon wasn't going to disappoint his backers in his Buffalo Raceway debut on Saturday night (March 16) as he showed plenty of heart in holding off Upfront Countryboy by a neck in the featured $11,000 Class AA Open pace.

Photo by Steve Roth
Shagnwiththedragon has success in Buffalo debut.

 

Sent off as the heavy 2-to-5 chalk, Shagnwiththedragon (Drew Monti) was able to thwart the 

challenge of a stubborn Upfront Countryboy (Shawn McDonough) who had to settle for the heart-breaking place position while Golden Gesture (Denny Bucceri) took third.

 

Just arriving from Northfield Park and Miami Valley in Ohio, Shagnwiththedragon ($2.90) managed to reach the top with only minor pressure and settled in to register splits of :28.3, :57.3 and 1:28.0 over the good track. 

 

It became a match race down the stretch as Shagnwiththedragon and Upfront Countryboy battled it out to the wire with the newcomer holding on by a neck in 1:58.2.

 

Co-owned by Tessa Roland and Eim Racing, the JD Perrin trained Shagnwiththedragon (Dragon Again-Lady Terror) is a 5-year-old gelding that has won $15,600 this year and $82,806 in his career.

 

In the sub-featured $9,500 Class A paces, Heaven Rocks (Monti) took the first division with an easy 5-1/4 length drubbing of the field in 1:57.4 while Littlebitaclass (Kevin Cummings) used a final push at the lamp to nudge past China Dream by a neck in 1:59.1.

 

Heaven Rocks ($8.40) was strong on the front end from start to finish and never was threatened in beating Sunset Sid (Ray Fisher Jr.) and Rebel Voyager (Billy Davis Jr.).

 

Using fractions of :28.3, :58.3 and 1:28.1, Heaven Rocks was in command down the stretch jogging freely under the wire.

 

Owned by Roland and conditioned by Perrin, Heaven Rocks (Rock N Roll Heaven-Cheerful Outlook) is a 7-year-old gelding who notched his first victory of 2019 in nine attempts. The win jacked his seasonal earnings to $13,065 and $200,362 lifetime.

 

Littlebitofclass stunned the field in the second division with a $28.60 victory over the favored China Dream (Davis Jr.).

 

Letting China Dream cut the splits of :29.1, :59.2 and 1:29.0, Littlebitaclass floated to the outside coming the down and and had just enough left in the tank to squeeze out the narrow victory.

 

Mike Torcello owns the 8-year-old gelded Littlebitaclass (Santanna Blue Chip-Aspirinne Semalu). Conditioned by Gerry Sarama, the win moved his bankroll to $10,585 this season and $281,955 lifetime.

 

Monti and Bucceri each had three driving wins on the night with Kevin Cummings getting a pair. Perrin, Sarama and Mike Ohol scored training doubles.

 

Racing will continue on Wednesday evening with a 13-race card scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. There will be a $590 carryover in the Pick-5 which begins in the second race.

 

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