The best older Ohio-sired mares converged on Hollywood Dayton Raceway on Friday night to contest a pair of $50,000 state championship races, one for each gait.
Favourites captured each division as world champion Victory Is Coming (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) won the distaff trot and Igottafeelinfran (Dan Noble) proved best in the pace.
Victory Is Coming, who established a world record on August 22 with a 1:51 triumph against open company at Scioto Downs, left alertly from an outside post position for Wrenn, despite the fact she has been racing from off the pace in her recent starts. The seven-year-old daughter of Victory Sam cleared to the lead just before the :27.2 opening panel then eased up on the throttle through a middle half-mile in :59 seconds.
She then cruised home in 1:55.4, despite strong headwinds in the stretch, for an easy three-length win. Easy Strength (Josh Sutton) raced gamely to finish second with Jesses Messenger (Dan Noble) garnering the show dough.
Victory Is Coming now has 48 career victories and has earned $546,365 for owners John and Betty Shaw. Ammon Hershberger has trained the classy lass over the past couple years.
Igottafeelinfran, who prepped with a pair of impressive wins in Dayton Raceway’s first two Fillies & Mares Opens, ran her local win streak to three with a 1:55 tally over Crosswind Colleen (Jason Brewer) and So Jazzy (Chris Page).
Noble was content to sit fourth with the odds-on favourite until the :56.3 halfway station, then launched a first-over bid through the third quarter reached in 1:25.1. Once clear of pacesetter So Jazzy, Igottafeelinfran got a scare from Crosswind Colleen who was on even terms with the winner before breaking stride briefly in mid-stretch.
Trainer Jim Dailey’s wife Kimberly owns the four-year-old Feelin Friskie mare in partnership with Jerry Zosel and Kathy Ratcliff. She has 17 wins and $369,871 in earnings in her first three years of racing.
Hollywood Dayton Raceway will present another pair of $50,000 Ohio Sires Stakes championship races for older male pacers and trotters on Saturday night. First race post time is 6:35 p.m. with the finals slated as races 6 and 10 on the 14-race program.
(Hollywood Dayton Raceway)