R Royal Port Arrives On Time At Buffalo Raceway – US Trotting News

Hamburg, NY – R Royal Port ($8.90) arrived at the port on schedule and cruised to a two-length victory over E Street in the $14,000 Open I-II Trot at Buffalo Raceway on Saturday night (July 13). The time was 1:56.1 on the fast track and narrowly missed tying the trotting record for older geldings by a fifth of a second.

The race was named The William Richardson Trot in honor and memory of the Buffalo Raceway president who passed away on June 26, 2024.

R Royal Port (Jim Morrill Jr.) has competed in two Open races since arriving from Canada and managed to pull out all the stops from the fifth post this time around.

Battling E Street early, R Royal Port managed to reach the top in :29.1 and followed the opening panel with splits of :59 and 1:27.3.

Heading into the finish, E Street stayed in the pocket while Arrakis and Valentine Express tried to sandwich R Royal Port, who was setting the pace. Neither had an answer, as R Royal Port trotted smartly to win by two lengths, with E Street (Dan Yetman) hanging on in second and Arrakis (Joseph Chindano Jr.) third.

Owned by La Ferme Tag Inc. and trained by Gérard Demers, this is the eighth win in 21 starts this year for the 5-year-old colt R Royal Port (Archangel-World Class Izzy). This victory brings his seasonal total to $48,170 and his career total to $88,545.

In the $12,200 Open II Pace, Stranger Things ($3.10) used a time of 27.3 seconds to cruise across the finish line over Egomania in 1:54.1. Blazing Light (Kyle Cummings) was third.

Shooting from the pylons, Stranger Things (Morrill Jr.) picked up splits of :29.3, :59.1 and 1:26.3. With the fast splits in the books, Stranger Things used the final quarter of :27.3 to keep Egomania (David McNeight III) from getting within half a length.

Co-owned by Kathy Schoeffel and James Reuther, Stranger Things (Western Terror-Southwind Prairie), an 8-year-old trained by Angelo Nappo, brought his 2024 earnings to $19,446 and $334,832 lifetime.

The final week of live racing at Buffalo Raceway will begin Wednesday afternoon (July 17) at 2:30 p.m. with 11 races on the schedule. The New York Sire Stakes will make its final appearance of the year with a $106,300 race for 2-year-old trotting colts and geldings. There will also be two $20,000 events in the Excelsior Series.

For more information, including the latest news, upcoming promotions, registration, results and race replays, visit www.buffaloraceway.com.