Hilltop Sonar used a perfect pocket trip to defeat nine rivals in the $25,352 featured conditioned claiming trot over a sloppy track on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway.
Aunt Lilly (Luke Hanners) and Hilltop Sonar (Chris Page) both left aggressively with the intent to grab the early lead, but Aunt Lilly cleared to put Hilltop Sonar in the pocket during the opening quarter of :28. The 50-1 shot Tombstone (Marc St. Louis Jr.) could not find a spot on the rail and was forced to go the long way as the field reached the half-mile station in :57.1.
As the group made its way down the backstretch, the bettors' choice, Sure Did (Jeremy Smith), was forced to go three-wide around the tiring Tombstone at three-quarters in 1:26. Hanners popped the plugs on Aunt Lilly on the final turn, but Hilltop Sonar pulled the pocket and drew two lengths clear of a closing Southernsunshine (Brett Miller) in 1:54.4. Aunt Lilly held on for the show spot.
Hilltop Sonar, a sophomore son of What The Hill-Mariah De Vie, is owned by the quartet of Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Beasty LLC and Rich Lombardo Racing. The gelding, now seven-for-28 lifetime with $359,593 in the bank, is trained by Ron Burke. He returned $10.
Brett Miller picked up one of his three wins on the evening in the $21,127 non-winners of four conditioned pace with Fly High Cruiser. Austin Hanners had Threemargaritashot quickly off the wings, putting Fly High Cruiser in the two-hole, but Miller was not content to trail the 25-1 leader and put Fly High Cruiser on the lead with a quick brush. The gelding put up the opening panels of :28.3 and :56.1, and Believe In Tom (St. Louis) provided pressure down the backstretch to three-quarters in 1:23.4. Fly High Cruiser then responded to Miller’s urging and opened up to win by 2-3/4 lengths over Be Ready To Rock (Luke Hanners) for a 1:51.3 score. A furious rally by favourite Boomerang (Page) created a dead heat for show with Threemargaritashot.
The winner, a three-year-old Yankee Cruiser-Letme Fly Low gelding, now has six wins in 22 starts and $142,587 in earnings. Anette Lorentzon bred and trains the Buckeye Stallion Series Final runner-up and shares ownership with Tony Hall.
Driver Tyler Smith also picked up a trio of wins on the 14-race card.
The next card at Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway on Wednesday will begin at 4 p.m.
(With files from Dayton Raceway; photo of Hilltop Sonar winning on July 26, 2024)