Mission Accepted worked hard to gain the front end in Thursday’s $25,000 Open Handicap Trot at Hollywood Dayton, then held off a barrage of opponents down the stretch to win in 1:53. The son of Manofmanymissions and driver Chris Page overcame a nine hole assignment to garner command after a :27.1 opening quarter. Following middle fractions of :56 and 1:24 the six-year-old faced challenges from everywhere but refused to let any of his adversaries get by him.

Refined (Mitch Cushing) and Pass The Vape (Trevor Smith) had the winner surrounded in the final strides but came up a neck short.

It was the 33rd lifetime victory for Mission Accepted, 13 of them coming this season, from just 87 career tries. Following a stellar juvenile career under the tutelage of trainer Jeff Conger, he was placed in the Ron Burke barn where he has resided for the last three years. He took a mark of 1:50.2 at The Meadowlands as a four-year-old and has banked $1,124,892 to date in his five years on tracks throughout the Midwest and East Coast. The trotter is slated for stud duty in early 2022 at Sugar Valley Farms in Delaware, Ohio.

Live harness racing resumes Friday at Hollywood Dayton with a 14-race program slated to begin at the usual 4:00 p.m. post time.

On Saturday night the track will present its marquee events, the Dayton Derbies, with a special 6:00 p.m. start. In addition to the trio of $175,000 races for the sport’s finest veteran male pacers, female pacers and trotters, eight $75,000 Ohio Sires Stakes Consolation Finals will also be presented. Derby favorites are Lyons Sentinel, Forbidden Trade and This Is The Plan, but they’ll have plenty of competition. Combined the three fields have over 500 wins and have earned about $25 million. Hall Of Fame Drivers David Miller, Tim Tetrick and Yannick Gingras will be on hand as well as reigning Driver of the Year Dexter Dunn.

(Dayton)