The favourites went down to defeat in a pair of $25,352 condition claiming paces that headlined the Friday, Oct. 17 action at Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway.
Theheavyweightway was a gate-to-wire winner in 1:51.2 in one of the main events for driver Trevor Smith. The Nob Hill High-A And Gs Design gelding was on the point after a brief scuffle when the wings of the starting gate opened. Chris Page aborted his effort to leave with favourite Twenty Five and took the garden spot through the opening panels in :27.2 and :56. Wirelesscaller (Jeremy Smith) made a charge on the outside before the three-quarters in 1:24, but quickly faded leaving the top two with clear sailing. Theheavyweightway used a final quarter of :27.3 to shut down any chance from the bettors' choice. The final margin was 1-1/2 lengths. Sinatra Hanover (Luke Hanners) was another two lengths back in third.
Theheavyweightway is trained by AJ Carlo and co-owned by Carlo Racing and breeder C2G Stables of Lebanon, Ohio. The four-year-old pacer earned his fourth victory in 24 starts this year, returning $6.20 to win as the 2-1 second choice.
Tennessee Smooth and driver Brett Miller prevailed in a three-horse photo finish to take the co-feature in 1:51.3. When the field of nine was sent on their way, Gotta Go Gram (Jeremy Smith), favourite Bet On Sunshine (Chris Page) and Tennessee Smooth were stacked three-deep in the first turn. Gotta Go Gram stuck a head in front past the opening quarter in :26.4, parking Bet On Sunshine. Page was forced to go forward with the bettors' choice and led his eight competitors past the middle panels of :55 and 1:23.1. As they turned for home, Bet On Sunshine had pressure from the outside in Gotta Go Gram and Tennessee Smooth went into the passing lane from the three-hole. Tennessee Smooth got up in the final strides to score the head win over the outside Gotta Go Gram. Bet On Sunshine was just a half-length back in third.
Tennessee Smooth paid $8 to win as the 3-1 second choice. A four-time winner in 23 seasonal starts, the five-year-old gelded son of Well Said-Corona Again is trained by Zach Mogan and owned by the Rushcreek Stable of Rushsylvania, Ohio.
The Smith brothers – Trevor and Tyler – each had four driving wins on the 14-race card.
Dayton Raceway finishes its racing week on Saturday with a first post at 4 p.m.
(With files from Dayton Raceway; photo of Theheavyweightway winning on Oct. 17)