Primo Maschio, driven by Trae Porter, won in 1:55.2 Thursday at Bally’s Dover

DOVER — Fresh off a 2-3/4-length win in round one, Forrest Bartlett’s Primo Maschio asserted himself as the horse to beat in the Thursday Dec. 18 $110,000 Delaware Standardbred Breeders’ Fund (DSBF) championship for 3-year-old male pacers with a 5-1/2-length, 1:55.2 score over four rivals in his $20,000 second-round split on Thursday, Dec. 11, at Bally’s Dover.

Primo Maschio got away third in the five-horse field before Trae Porter angled him off the pegs midway on the first turn to strike the lead at the end of a :28.3 first quarter. After seizing control, the Badlands Hanover-Primadonna gelding traveled unopposed through middle splits of :58 and 1:27 before steadily edging clear of pocket rival Maximum Luck (driven by Jason Green) on the far turn to record his ninth win of the season and 18th overall from 26 starts. Big Hunk A Money (Jason Thompson) mounted a mild rally off the home turn to finish second, ahead of Maximum Luck.

Walter Callahan trains Primo Maschio, who has earned $350,618 to date in his career and paid $2.10 to win as the 1-20 favorite.

Wyatt Earp and driver Tony Morgan rode the pocket en route to a 1:55.2 win in the other section, collaring pacesetter Lew Not Lou (Thompson) by a head. Shore Not Beach (Pat Berry) rallied from off the pace to finish third.

Jason Skinner trains Wyatt Earp, a Classic Card Shark-Rockn Ruby N gelding who has won four races and earned $102,898 for owner/breeder Conor Brewer.

Two-time preliminary winner Primo Maschio and single-leg winners Wyatt Earp and Shore Not Beach will be joined in next week’s DSBF championship by Lew Not Lou, Maximum Luck, Big Hunk A Money, Won Last Call and B Like Tony.

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