Although the track is just over one week old, a pair of impressive overall track records were established in $15,000 eliminations of Ohio Sires Stakes races for older pacers and trotters on Saturday night.
The top four finishers from each of two divisions on each gait advanced to the $50,000 championship races next Saturday, plus the fifth place finisher with the most money earned in Ohio in 2014.
Dancin Yankee (Tyler Buter), who has taken on most of the top free-for-all pacers in the country all season long, returned to Ohio for the first time this season and won handily in 1:51, the quickest mile to date in the short history of Hollywood Dayton Raceway. The six-year-old son of Yankee Cruiser was sent directly to the front when the starting gate folded and sped through fractions of :26.3, :55 and 1:23.2 before finishing without urging in a :27.3 final panel. The winner is owned by Baron Racing Stable and Richard Lombardo and trained by Todd Buter. It was the 41st career triumph for the millionaire pacer, who could surpass the half-million mark in 2014 alone with a repeat victory next week. Outdoor Fever (Kayne Kauffman) followed admirably to finish second with Sassy Osborne (Josh Sutton) and Grandkids Attack (Jason Brewer) advancing with third and fourth place finishes respectively.
The second split was captured by Lonesome Attack (Josh Sutton), who scored in 1:53.2 over Mr I Am (Mike Wilder), Noble Trick (Jeremy Smith), Hanky L (Jack Dailey) and That Friske Feelin (Chris Page). The latter earned the final spot in the upcoming championship on the merits of his higher earnings in the state of Ohio in 2014, edging out Gun Show (Randy Tharps) to advance. Lonesome Attack is owned by the partnership of Gerrie Tucker, Ciro Gentile and Debbie Bird, and trained by Virgil Morgan Jr. The six-year-old altered son of On The Attack now has 23 lifetime trips to the winner’s circle.
The track trotting standard was lowered to 1:55.1 in the second elimination for state-bred trotters. Count Me In (Mike Wilder) took no prisoners during the race, tripping the teletimer at every station in fractions of :28.1, :57.4 and 1:26.1. The five-year-old son of Full Count was followed across the finish by Final Breath (Hugh Beatty), J J Hall (Kayne Kauffman), Cody Coy (Chris Page) and Fortune Sailor, who got fifth money and the bonus of advancing to the lucrative final based on seasonal Ohio earnings. Trotmaster Marty Wollam co-owns Count Me In with his longtime stable partner Acadia Farms.
Its Jesse Time (Brandon Bates) impressed in the first survival split, topping Rompaway Beau (Hugh Beatty), Quick N Slick (Randy Tharps) and Hello Carlo (Josh Sutton). Olin (Jeremy Smith) picked up the "nickel" cheque, but failed to advance to the championship if all the other finalists re-enter. Jerry Lighthill owns and trains the elimination winner, who scored in 1:56.
(Dayton Raceway)