Hollywood Dayton Raceway hosted the first odd-distance race in its six-year history on Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 5), a five-eighths mile sprint dubbed the 'Election Day Dash To The Polls.'
When the limestone dust settled Snowballs Romeo emerged victorious with a 1:10.3 win over Respectable Dream and Waterside Champ.
Driver Josh Sutton launched Snowballs Romeo from post 6 but spent the first turn three wide before finally clearing to the front just before a :27 first quarter.
“When this horse is just right, he can get out of there quicker than that,” said a smiling Sutton immediately following the race. “But he kept at it the whole lap and didn’t cave in, so it was a lot of fun.”
Snowballs Romeo reached the half-mile mark in :55.2 and tacked on a :15.1 final eighth to secure the victory. It was just the third win from eight 2019 starts for the six-year-old son of McArdle, raising his lifetime bounty to just under $200,000. Trainer Phil Belanger co-owns him with partner Jeffrey Koesters.
“I’m a big fan of odd-distance racing,” said the track's leading driver Brett Miller, who guided Electric Lad to a fourth place finish in the dash. "It’s nice to change things up occasionally and require some different driving strategies. I’ve been in quite a few longer distance races with bigger than normal fields and I can tell you those races do present new challenges that drivers aren’t used to.”
Race Secretary Gregg Keidel has written a one-and-a-quarter mile race for next Tuesday titled the “Horse For The Course Endurance Test.” The $10,000 special event is limited to horses that started for a purse of $8,000 or less in their last start. The entry box for Hollywood Dayton’s Tuesday matinee will close Friday (Nov. 8) at 2 p.m.
(Hollywood Dayton Raceway)