One of the winningest horses in North America in 2021, millionaire trotter Mission Accepted added Thursday's featured $24,000 Open Handicap to his tally at Hollywood Dayton Raceway.
Driven by Chris Page, Mission Accepted was victorious in 1:53 flat over I Know My Chip (Tyler Smith) and Whata Swan (Trace Tetrick). The back-to-back Open winner, trained by Ron Burke, now sports 16 victories this season (from 28 tries) -- just one behind the North American win leaders, trotter Winning Shadow and pacer Alilthundadownunda.
With 36 triumphs in 92 starts, the six-year-old son of Manofmanymissions has a career bankroll that has swelled to $1,169,311, with $277,010 added this year.
Buoyed by a $10,212 carryover, Hollywood Dayton management has announced a $20,000 guaranteed (in conjunction with the USTA’s strategic wagering platform) gross pool on its 50-cent Pick 5 wager for Friday. The popular exotic bet begins on the fifth race each program, with approximate post time of 5:34 p.m. First race post time on Fridays is 4p.m.
The Pick 5 went unsolved on Thursday when a trio of single digit payout winners combined with a pair of longshots during the sequence to stump the day’s players. The winning Pick 5 horses, in order, were: Crazy Bad K (Tyler Smith, $8.20), Dlitefulacquistion (Brett Miller, $49.80), Mildrix (Josh Sutton, $3.20), Champion Rock (Jeremy Smith, $31) and Jailhouse Sam (Sandy Beatty, $6.40).
Friday’s Pick 5 kicks off with a $16,500 condition race for a sextet of pacing mares. Mo Mo (Chris Page), Voluptuous (Jeremy Smith) and American Empress N (Tony Hall) have been installed as the morning line favourites. Next up will be an $18,500 condition race for a field of eight nice distaff pacers. Disararonno Hill (Brett Miller), McMarkle Sparkle (Page) and Slymars Dragon (Shawn Barker II) got the opening nod from Hollywood Dayton’s oddsmaker. A full field of non-winners of two races pacers will contest the middle leg of the Pick 5. Forever Roxanne (Tyler Smith), Rose Run Warner (Josh Sutton) and Island By The Beach (Tony Hall) will be listed as favourites at the opening betting bell.
A second division of the $16,500 condition race for mares will be offered up in the fourth leg with Stay Gold (Jeremy Smith), Anthem (Sutton) and Liberty Rose N (Trevor Smith) chosen as the morning line favourites. An $18,000 condition/claiming event for horses that haven’t won 10 races and carry $30,000 base claiming tags will complete the Pick 5 offering. Social Theories (Adam Short) will seek his fifth straight victory from a second tier start in the Pick 5 nightcap. Others who will likely get significant play are Mingo Joel (Tyler Smith) and Vel Charlie (Page).
(With files from Dayton)