After being disqualified from the win a week ago, Fruit Snacker returned to victory lane as he defeated a field of strong trotters in the $24,658 Winners Over Trot at Bally’s Dover on Tuesday, Feb. 17.
Indy Be Quick (Russell Foster) sprinted off the gate from post four and parked out both Fruit Snacker (Tony Morgan) and Last Glow (Jack Parker Jr.) through the opening quarter in :28.3. Fruit Snacker, the 4-5 favourite, finally cleared to the lead in front of the stands, and Last Glow became the odd man out and remained on the rim as the top two trotters fought hard to the half in :57.2.
Fruit Snacker stayed on the attack with a strong tempo to three-quarters in 1:25.3. Last Glow could not sustain the parked-out bid any longer and weakened on the final turn. Iwont Backdown As (Tim Tetrick) was forced to circle three-wide from his second-over stance, and Indy Be Quick chased the leader from the pylons. But Fruit Snacker was strong in the stretch drive and won by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:54.3. Indy Be Quick benefitted from the pocket trip to finish second, followed by Iwont Backdown As.
Fruit Snacker, a four-year-old son of Dover Dan-First Avenue, is trained by Willard Reynolds for Mark Howard of Federalsburg, Md. The gelding is now 14-for-32 lifetime. He paid $3.60 for the victory.
Earlier on the card, Warrior One reached the 50-win plateau as the 10-year-old son of Father Patrick-Yoga won a claiming event worth $21,918. The gelding remained parked past the quarter for driver Pat Berry to take the front coming off the first turn and led from there to the line, winning by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:54.2. Traci Berry trains Warrior One, who took his 50th win in start number 201, for owner Yannick Gingras of Allentown, N.J. The win return was $5.80.
The next card at Dover is set for Wednesday. The program is headlined by an upper-level conditioned pace in which Always B Merry will look for a fourth straight win as she ascends another rung of the class ladder. There is a Pick 4 carryover worth $1,463 into the Wednesday card. Post time is 4:30 pm
(With files from Dover Downs)