Niko Man nosed out stablemate Yo Beth D as the Ken Rucker trainees were one-two in a wild four-across finish in the $39,436 Open Trot at Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway on Wednesday, Nov. 12.
Four horses hustled out for early lead, but it was Refined (Tyler Smith) who forced his way forward on the outside to take the front past the opening panel in :27.2. The field of six went single file past the grandstand for the first time and reached the half in :56.1.
Easter Jack (Brett Miller) was pulled to the outside approaching the midway point, providing live cover for Niko Man (Jeremy Smith) and Yo Beth D (Trevor Smith) to three-quarters in 1:24.2. When the field turned for the wire, all six were in contention. Easter Jack put a head in front in the stretch, but Niko Man split rivals and forged to the front before fending off Yo Beth D by a nose in 1:53.3. Easter Jack was third by a neck, and Mohatu As (Chris Page) was a length back in fourth.
Niko Man, a five-year-old gelded son of Cassis-Andover The Prize, picked up his fifth win of the season in 22 tries. He is owned by the partnership of Russell Beeman and Jack Freeman. The win was his 25th lifetime in 70 outings. He returned $7.40 at the windows.
The first race of the afternoon was a conditioned trot going for a purse of $30,986. A trio battled for the first call as Jusmakinyalook (Jordan Ross) out-sprinted Dame Good Time (Chris Page), who closed a hole on Angel Nation (Jeremy Smith), forcing the Archangel-Seawind Pascale gelding to press on for the lead. He produced the splits of :27.4 and :56.2 before facing the first-over Dame Good Time nearing three quarters in 1:25. Jusmakinyalook dove into the passing lane in the stretch, and Dame Good Time closed on the outside, but Angel Nation held on to beat the latter by head in 1:55.1. A fast-closing Sayinwhatimthinkin (Trevor Smith) nipped Jusmakinyalook for third.
Angel Nation is now 13-for-38 this season and 44-for-158 lifetime. The eight-year-old is trained by Antonia Storer for Friendship Stables LLC. The win price was $6.20.
Jeremy Smith finished the 14-race program with four driving wins. Page recorded a driving triple.
Racing continues at Dayton Raceway with a 14-dash card scheduled for 4 p.m. on Thursday.
(Dayton Raceway)