Sandys Victory established a new track record for aged trotting mares at Hollywood Dayton Raceway on Monday afternoon (Dec. 5) when she scorched the quick five-eighths mile oval in 1:54.1.
The clocking shaved two-fifths of a second off the previous track standard of 1:54.3, which belonged to world champion Victory Is Coming. The track record performance was a gratifying family affair as owner-trainer Dan Ater just purchased Sandys Victory about a month ago and his son Kyle Ater was in the sulky.
Two races later, the ultra-consistent Rockn Stien ran his string of on-the-board finishes to seven capturing the $15,000 Open Trot at Hollywood Dayton Raceway in 1:54.3.
Despite showing three wins, three seconds and one show finish in his last seven starts, the betting public let Rockn Stien get away at 7-1 odds, likely due to his eight hole starting spot behind the starting gate. Driver Josh Sutton had the four-year-old son of Valley Victor on the move early, briefly dropping into second along the pylons but quickly making a “quarter move” to the front as he and early pacesetter Primed N Powerful (Randy Tharps) passed the :28 quarter-mile marker as a team. Setting subsequent middle fractions of :56.2 and 1:25.2, Rockn Stien never got a serious threat through the rest of the mile.
Rockinthepines (Andy Shetler), who was last week’s winner in the feature trot, closed best of the rest to garner the place payoff, while Beckys Law (Kyle Ater) took full advantage of an inside post position to finish third.
Trainer Bobby Brower co-owns Rockn Stien with Debra Garland. Their talented homebred square-gaiter now has nine career triumphs with a bankroll of $145,865.
(with files from Dayton)