Entering Sunday night (Dec. 17), Joggingtothebank, had already had an impressive season with more than $100,000 in earnings; he continued to shine bright, jogging to his fourth win in five starts in the $18,000 Open Handicap Trot at MGM Northfield Park.
Up Helly AA (Aaron Merriman) and Joggingtothebank (Elliott Deaton) timed the gate perfectly and duelled into the opening turn. Midway around the turn, Joggingtothebank worked his way to the front, with Deaton trying to ration out the speed at the quarter in :27.4 over the 'good' track.
Facing no challengers at the half in :57.3, Deaton continued getting things his way up top. Into the clubhouse turn the final time, Texsong Soprano (Hunter Myers) was sent to the outside, with Winning Shadow (Chris Lems) on his back second-over.
Joggingtothebank, still facing no pressure, got to three-quarters in an uncontested 1:26.1, turning for home, Up Helly AA bounded out of the pocket for Merriman, but Joggingtothebank easily repelled that challenge and drew off in the stretch to win by 2-3/4 lengths in 1:55.3. Up Helly AA was a strong second, while Kandy Sweet (Billy Davis Jr.) was third.
Owned by Julie Ann & Dale A. Sweet of Akron, Ohio and trained by Matthew Burkholder, the homebred eight-year-old son of Break The Bank K inched closer to the $500,000 mark, pushing his lifetime earnings to $477,584. The win counted as his 11th in 36 starts this year and 42nd lifetime.
Makin Some Noise (Kurt Sugg) had been knocking on the door a lot of late with four consecutive runner-up finishes and finally put it all together to earn his 10th win of the season in the co-featured $18,000 Open Handicap Pace.
His path to victory wasn't very easy, however, tasked with post seven, he was parked through the opening quarter with Lyons Beach (Kody Massey), Bettor Than Spring (Deaton) and Carolina Beach (Justin Irvine) stacking him up four-wide around the first turn.
At a very contested quarter of :26.4, Makin Some Noise pushed past Carolina Beach and cleared into the far turn. Sugg got a short breather in the second panel, getting to the half in :56.2, but the Bill Rhoades contingent was not content with sitting any longer as the pair of The Ideal Dancer A (Aaron Merriman) and Elliot Moose (Braiden Rhoades) began a bid for the lead from the back of the pack.
Makin Some Noise was heavily challenged to three-quarters in 1:24.2, with The Ideal Dancer A bearing down on him and Elliot Moose game second-over. Makin Some Noise put away The Ideal Dancer A turning for home. While it looked like Elliot Moose would make a race of it three-wide, no one was able to get to Makin Some Noise, who glided to a 1-1/2-length victory in 1:52.4. The Ideal Dancer A dug in to be second with Elliot Moose third.
Owned by Rebecca Sugg, the five-year-old son by Always B Miki now has 23 lifetime wins with $347,785 in the bank.
(With files from Northfield Park)