One Lucky Buck extends winning streak

One Lucky Buck continued his ascent, notching his third straight win with a gutty performance to take Sunday's $100,000 Sunland Park Handicap.

Owned by Adam and Paul Lewis and trained by Chris Hartman, the 5-year-old One Lucky Buck went into the 1 1/8-mile feature having won two straight allowance sprints here after coming from California after 10 months on the bench. He pressured pacesetter High Pitch through brisk early fractions under Ken Tohill, took the lead on the far turn, looked beaten when Rollicking Caller swept past him in midstretch, but gamely rerallied to beat Rollicking Caller by a half-length. It was another 4 3/4 lengths back to Broke Sharply in third. Red Rock Creek, the 6-5 favorite, finished fourth in the field of six in the final Thoroughbred stakes of the meet and final Sunday of racing this meet. Sunland's closing card is Tuesday.

One Lucky Buck covered the distance in 1:48.94 and paid $6.20. The winner's share of $60,000 pushed his career bankroll to $137,085 from 4 wins in 9 starts.