Driver Jimmy Marohn Jr. walked into the paddock at Northfield Park for the second time in his career and first time in 25 years when he came to the northeast Ohio oval on Saturday, June 6 to drive Mossdale Ben N in the $347,222 Battle of Lake Erie.

The trip ended with him in the winner's circle.

Marohn went to the gate with a plan to land on the lead, but that idea was quickly spoiled by Women Layer (Luke Hanners), who hustled out of post one and parked Helium N (Dan Noble) through blazing :25.4 and :52.3 early fractions.

“I wanted to be aggressive off the gate and try to cut it,” said Marohn. “But that didn’t work out and we had to wait for our trip.”

Up the backstretch, Helium N was weary and started to tire, while a softened-up Women Layer braced for a backfield rush through three-quarters in 1:20. Captain Albano (Todd McCarthy) moved three-wide, and Prince Hal Hanover (Matt Kakaley) swung four-wide approaching the stretch.

Mossdale Ben N, who had the garden trip with a ringside seat to the Women Layer/Helium N slugfest, pulled the pocket and narrowly held off a hard-charging Prince Hal Hanover to stop the clock in 1:48.4, winning the Grade 2 event by a nose. Huntinthelastdolar (Tyler Smith) finished third.

Owned by PJT Investments LLC of Madison, Connecticut, Mossdale Ben N is trained by Peter Tritton, who picked up his second Battle score after winning in 2018 with Bit Of A Legend N. The victory was the 22nd lifetime for the eight-year-old son of 2013 Battle of Lake Erie champion A Rocknroll Dance out of Mossdale Sue. The gelding bolstered his lifetime bankroll to $1,216,048 in his 77th career start. He returned $15.80 to win.

Two races earlier on the card, Odds On Chesapeake rolled down the stretch to take the $138,889 Buckeye Distaff for Ohio-sired older pacing mares. 

The race was a brouhaha in the early stages as Real Star (Trevor Smith) took no prisoners through a scintillating :25.3 opening quarter. Hey Hey Mama (Luke Hanners) then made her move to the front and led through fractions of :54 and 1:21.4, taking substantial heat from No Foolin April (Brett Miller), who made a relentless first-over bid.

Odds On Chesapeake was in the live outer flow second-over and tipped three-wide at the top of the stretch. She surged to the front with a last quarter of :28.3 and finished 1-1/4 lengths ahead of No Foolin April for a 1:51 victory. Hey Hey Mama was third.

Odds On Chesapeake, a four-year-old daughter of Downbytheseaside-Macaroon, scored her first win this season in six starts for trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. The Odds On Racing homebred is now 14-for-34 lifetime with $991,326 in earnings. She paid $14.60 to win. 

The victory made a special night even sweeter for Morgan, who reached the 8,000-win milestone just minutes earlier as I Did It Myway won the eighth race at Scioto Downs.

Northfield also hosted five $27,778 divisions in each of the second legs of the Buckeye Stallion Series for sophomore colt pacers and trotters on Saturday's undercard. Touchedbythesea and Time Has Come both scored victories, giving them a two-for-two start in the series.

After taking an opening-leg win in a lifetime mark of 1:52.3 at Eldorado Scioto Downs on May 9, the Downbytheseaside gelding Touchedbythesea and driver Chris Page led wire to wire and crossed the line in 1:54.3 on Saturday. Touchedbythesea won by one and three-quarters lengths over Fire The Prez (Chris Lems) in second followed by Ninetynineproblems (Mike Wilder) in third. Trained by Ron Burke for owners Burke Racing Stable, Knox Services, Slaughter Racing Stable, and Weaver Bruscemi, Touchedbythesea has three wins in five seasonal starts.

Other highlights from the sophomore pacing colts included dominant wire-to-wire victories by The Ebony Dragon and Gypsys Brother. The Tyler Bates-trained The Ebony Dragon (Luke Hanners) was a 9-1/2-length winner in a lifetime mark of 1:51.4 and Gypsys Brother (Tyler Smith) won by 7-3/4 lengths in a lifetime-best 1:52 for trainer Herman Hagerman. Thunder Jam (Brett Miller) took a division in 1:53.3 for trainer Tim Twaddle and Ultimate Catch (Chris Lems) prevailed by half a length in 1:55.4 for the Scott Cox stable.

Time Has Come, a winner in the opening leg of the Buckeye Stallion Series at Scioto in 1:56.1, recorded a lifetime mark of 1:56 in taking another division for the sophomore colt trotters on Saturday. Driven by Kurt Sugg, the Uncle Peter gelding won by three-quarters of a length with Eckert Hill Brady (Same Widger) and Jackie Jann (Wilbur Yoder) rounding out the top three. Time Has Come is trained by Miles Wollam for owners Marty Wollam and Acadia Farms. He has earned four (consecutive) wins from five races this year and has hit the board in seven of his eight career starts with six of those being wins.

The other sophomore trotting colt winners were Deer In Range (Chris Page) in a lifetime-best 1:55.3 for trainer Allen Miller; Mister Moolah (Trevor Smith) in 1:57.1 for Danny Collins; Mile Range (Brett Miller) in a lifetime mark of 1:55.3 for Steve Carter; and
Lane Holding Court (Dan Noble) in a lifetime mark of 1:55.4 for Mark Winters.

The Buckeye Stallion Series continues on June 15 with the third leg for sophomore colt trotters at Northfield.

The Pick-5 on Battle night went unsolved, sending a carryover to the Sunday evening festivities. The $1 Pick-5 wager beginning in the sixth race has a carryover of $4,437 and features an estimated pool of $30,000. As always, it boasts the low 14 per cent takeout. The Pick-5 is offered in conjunction with the U.S. Trotting Association's Strategic Wagering Program and Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association.

(With files from Northfield Park & Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association; photo of Mossdale Ben N winning on April 13)