Buffalo: Uncle Rob matches track record in New York Sire Stakes victory

It was a spectacular day for Uncle Rob ($3.88) at Buffalo Raceway on Wednesday afternoon (July 1), as he collected the victory in the $110,200 New York Sire Stakes for the 2-year-old colt and gelding trotters with a 1 3/4 length score over Celebrity Dubai in 2:00 3/5.

Besides getting the $55,100 first-place check, Uncle Rob (Andy Miller) etched his name into the Buffalo Raceway record book as his time equaled the track mark for 2-year-old gelding trotters set by Tobern on July 5, 2023.

Uncle Rob's stablemate Speaker Craig (Tyler Miller) did the heavy lifting on the front-end, setting fractions of 29 seconds and 59 seconds through the opening-half. With Uncle Rob getting the perfect pocket trip, Celebrity Dubai (Jason Bartlett) came a calling with a big move down the backstretch the final time and briefly took the lead heading down the lane.

But Uncle Rob shook free on the outside down the long Buffalo Raceway lane and powered his way to the win. Celebrity Dubai settled for the nice second-place payday, with Mormont (Dan Daley) rallying in deep stretch for third.

Uncle Rob, who had the only pari-mutuel victory and start among the eight entrants, is now a perfect two-for-two in his career. Fresh off a 5 3/4 length win at Harrah's Philadelphia on June 18 in his career debut, Uncle Rob (Met's Hall-Jesse's Con) is owned by the Andy Miller Stable Inc. and is trained by Julie Miller. The score jumped his seasonal earnings to $61,000.

In the lone $20,000 Excelsior Series race for the 2-year-old male trotters, Telling Tall Tales ($3.98) and driver Brett Beckwith used the passing lane to top Im Vengeance (John Stark Jr.) in 2:02 4/5 while Betelgeusebluechip (Kyle Swift) was third.

Telling Tall Tales ($3.98) is co-owned by Harmon Racing Stables, William Muggleston and Robert Robinson and is conditioned by Rob Harmon.

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In the $14,700 Open Pace for the fillies and mares, Utopia Blue Chip ($6.66) got out of the bridesmaid role and finally got to the winner's circle with a neck decision over Face The Shadows, with Gentrify (Brett MacDonald) taking third in 1:55.

Off a pair of second-place finishes in the Open Pace for the damsels, Utopia Blue Chip (Dale Spence) got rolling out of fifth-place at the half-mile marker as the favored Elegant Woman A set the pace with splits of 28 2/5, 57 4/5 and 1:26 3/5. Those proved to be too much, and the closers started to roll into contention.

Face The Shadows (Kevin Cummings) had taken the lead turning for the wire, but Utopia Blue Chip was able to track her down late and claim the win.

Leased and trained by Spence, it was the fifth win in 23 starts on the campaign for Utopia Blue Chip (Sweet Lou-Reign On Me). The victory jumped her seasonal earnings to $51,377 and to $270,716 in her career.

David McNeight III and Monti each had doubles on the card.

Racing will return on Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. with 13 races on tap. For more information, including the latest news, upcoming promotions, entries and results, go to www.buffaloraceway.com.

--press release (Buffalo)--