Though it was a rainy day on Thursday (Oct. 19) at Dayton Raceway, it was all sunny skies for driver Trevor Smith, who scored his 1,000th career driving win.
Smith notched his career milestone aboard Walknaftermidnight in a $14,000 condition pace. The five-year-old gelding is trained by his father, Jeff Smith, who also gave Trevor his first career driving opportunity aboard Votto at the Wilmington Fair in 2015.
Walknaftermidnight and Smith took command early from post six and led the field through fractions of :26.2, :55.2 and 1:23.1 to a final mile time of 1:50.4.
The 27-year-old reinsman obtained his license in 2015 and since then, has recorded six multi-million dollar seasons, his richest coming in 2022 when Smith banked $3,378,548 in purses. A year prior, Smith won the Kentucky Filly Futurity in with Katies Lucky Day.
Hellabalou Hails In Dayton Open
An episode of 'catch me if you can' saw Hellabalou take the $25,000 Dayton Open for horses and geldings.
Leaving from an assigned post seven, Hellabalou and driver Chris Page rushed to take early control of the tempo. They led the field through fractions of :26, :55.1 and 1:22.2 before clocking a final time of 1:50.4 by 1-1/4 lengths over Stars Align and JKS Champ.
The son of Sweet Lou, who now makes it two-in-a-row in Ohio, is trained by Ron Burke for owners Burke Racing Stable, Eric Good, Weaver Bruscemi and Lawrence Karr.
Hellabalou paid $2.80 to win as the favourite.
(With files from Dayton Raceway)