First-round winners Shore Not Beach and Won Last Call repeated in their respective $20,000 second-round Delaware Standardbred Breeders' Fund events for 2-year-old male pacers, held Thursday (Nov. 14) at Bally's Dover.
In the second division, TLB Racing's Shore Not Beach and driver Pat Berry sprinted clear from post five to lead Sting Ray (driven by Corey Callahan) and three other rivals through splits of 27 1/5, 55 4/5 and 1:24 3/5 before edging clear of his pocket rival around the final turn. The Badlands Hanover-Azure Deo gelding evaded a mild late rally from runner-up Lew Not Lou (Tim Tetrick) by two lengths and reduced his lifetime mark to 1:54 1/5. Sting Ray faded to third, another 3 3/4 lengths behind.
Traci Berry trains three-time winner Shore Not Beach, who has now earned $62,500 in his career. Sent off the 1-2 favorite, he paid $3.00 to win.
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The first split, conducted as a non-wagering race, set up as a rematch between first-round winner Won Last Call and Harrington series champion Primo Maschio. In the first leg, Won Last Call recovered from an early bobble to post a 26-1 upset over Primo Maschio, and their second meeting had a similar dynamic from the start. Eight-time winner Primo Maschio (Trae Porter) strolled through a 59 2/5 first-half with Won Last Call and Montrell Teague stalking comfortably from the pocket. Primo Maschio picked up the pace on the backstretch, throwing down a 28 1/5 third quarter and trying to sprint free of his pocket foe, but Won Last Call emerged off the home turn and collared Primo Maschio by a half-length in 1:55. Wyatt Earp (Justin Irvine) finished third after stalking the top pair throughout the entire mile.
Joe Columbo trains four-time winner Won Last Call, a Badlands Hanover-I'm Won Shot Wiser gelding who competes as a homebred for George & Tina Dennis Racing and has earned $47,094.
In addition to preliminary winners Shore Not Beach and Won Last Call, the following horses have qualified for the $110,000 DSBF championship, to be held Nov. 21: Primo Maschio, Lew Not Lou, Wyatt Earp, Sting Ray, LL Royal Man and Our Perfect Aim.
--press release (DSBF)--