A large throng showed up at Hollywood Dayton Raceway on Saturday (Dec. 11) to witness and wager on an exciting 14-race card peppered with three mini-series final legs as well as a plethora of opening legs of mini-series for some of the best horses in the southern Ohio and Indiana region.
The highlight of the program was a trio of $28,800 divisions of Open pacers vying for top finishes and a berth in next week's $60,000 championship. In the first elim, Sectionline Bigry (Brett Miller) beat Nuclear Dragon (Dan Noble) and Secret Threat (Tony Hall) in a 1:51.2 mile. The victory was the winner's fourth this year and raised his 2021 purse winnings to $99,860.
The second split went to Lexus Witha View (Tony Hall) in 1:52.2. Macs Big Boy (Brett Miller) and Dojea Gizmo (Trevor Smith) were next across the finish line. Lexus Witha View won for the fifth time in 20 seasonal starts and bumped his earnings up to $57,343 on the campaign.
Kneedeep N Custard (Tony Hall) topped GD Western Joe (Chris Page) and Loutenant (Tyler Smith) to advance from the third elimination. The winning 1:52 trip was Kneedeep N Custard's seventh of the year and increased his seasonal earnings to $89,291.
The top-three finishers in the Open events will be joined by Alwaystellthetruth (Kayne Kauffman), who was the fastest fourth place finisher in the three events and will complete the field for next Saturday's $60,000 mini-series championship tilt.
A $19,000 mini-series final for conditioned (N/W $3250 last 4 starts) male pacers was captured by Two Oclock Johnny (Tony Hall) in an upset 1:54.4 score over Clever Character (Page) and Indiana Cam (Cam McCown). Aaron Hamilton trains the winner for Ffl Racing, Dream Catcher Racing and Glen Congrove.
Mini-series finalists who were non-winners of four races or $40,000 lifetime squared off chasing a $27,000 purse. Sweet Oliver (Brett Miller) stormed down the stretch to collar Captain Panko (Jeremy Smith) and Keene Idyllic (Trevor Smith) in 1:53.3.
A $27,000 mini-series final for $15,000 claimers capped off the championship action with Sugar Shock (Tony Hall) closing quickest of all to triumph in 1:51.3, a lifetime mark. Hawks Red Chief (Chris Page) was runnerup while Run Oneover (Tyler Smith) chased the winner to the wire.
Tony Hall visited the winner's circle a half dozen times on the card. In addition to his wins with Lexus Witha View, Kneedeep N Custard, Two Oclock Johnny and Sugar Shock, he was victorious with Blank Stare (1:51.4) and My Hero Ron (1:53.2). Hall will have to choose between the latter two next Saturday as both qualified for a $33,000 mini-series final for high conditioned (N/W $8000 last 4) pacers.
Racing resumes at Hollywood Dayton on Monday afternoon (Dec. 13) with a 2:00 p.m. (EST) post time.
(Hollywood Dayton Raceway)