The old saying goes, 'Nice guys finish last.' Well, in Buffalo Raceway's $18,919 Open Pace on Saturday night (March 2), the nice guy finished first, Vel Mr Nice Guy ($18) that is.
Rallying from the pocket in deep stretch, Vel Mr Nice Guy (Joseph Chinado Jr.) managed to poke a head in front in the shadow of the wire to pin a heartbreaking loss on the pacesetting Umberto (David McNeight III) in 1:54.3 over the fast track. Lip Reader A (Drew Monti) finished in third.
In the co-featured $18,919 Open 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.
Saturday 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 online."
In the first feature, Umberto and Vel Mr Nice Guy battled for bragging rights to the opening 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.
The win was the second in seven tries for Vel Mr Nice Guy (Straight Shooter-She Can Dance), who is owned by Jeff Savidge Racing LLC and trained by Maggie Chindano. The victory upped his seasonal winnings to $19,425 and lifetime bankroll to $226,455.
In the top race for the side-winders, 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.
The win was the first victory in six tries for the five-year-old gelded Jacked (Muscle Mass-Krafty, who is co-owned by Vogel & Wags Nags LLC and Dr. Michael Miller. The win moved his 2024 winnings to $17,512 and career bankrol to $137,555.
Racing will return on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. with a 14-race card scheduled.
(With files from Buffalo Raceway)