Manny was crowned champion of the inaugural Bill Dailey Memorial Medley at Miami Valley Raceway on Saturday night (Feb. 23).
The six-year-old American Ideal gelding topped Angelo J Fra (Tyler Smith) and The Dark Shadow (Chris Page) in the 1-1/4 mile title bout in 2:24.3 despite a rain-soaked racing strip. Leading driver Trace Tetrick worked out a second-over trip in the outer flow for the best part of the extended race, clearing to the front as the horses entered the stretch and cruising to a relatively easy victory by almost three lengths. Account Rollover (Brett Miller) left hard from the outside position behind the starting gate and cut fractions of :28.2, :57.2, 1:27.4 and 1:56 before faltering during the final :28.3 panel.
Manny is owned by Jessica Smith and trained by her husband Randy Smith. He now sports 18 career wins, and his share of the $25,000 championship purse boosted his lifetime bounty to almost $300,000. He paid $7.40 to win.
The Bill Dailey Memorial Medley series featured a three-quarter mile dash, a one mile contest and the 1-1/4 mile final. Dailey, one of Ohio’s most prolific colt trainers, died unexpectedly at age 57 in May 2018. He trained numerous Ohio and Indiana Sires Stakes champions including six Ohio Triple Crown winners. He won the prestigious Jerry Kaltenbach award four times as Ohio's trainer of the year.
The Dailey Memorial winner was greeted in the winner’s circle by Bill’s wife Kim and daughter Ashley, as well as many Dailey Stable employees, friends, family members and racing officials.
Dancin Yankee, one of the most prolific Ohio-sired winners and earners in history, captured his second straight $25,000 Open Pace on the same card. The 11-year-old son of Yankee Cruiser notched his 71st lifetime win and increased his earnings to $1,863,407. Driver Chris Page elected to take no prisoners by hurrying the 2-1 favourite to the lead in a :26.4 opening quarter, then posting middle fractions of :56 and 1:23.1 before speeding home in 1:51.3.
Granite (Brett Miller) tried his best to wear down Dancin Yankee, but could never get past the winner’s wheel. My Hero Ron (Tyler Smith) got away third, was shuffled to fifth during the middle half, then rallied in the lane for an impressive third-place finish.
Dancin Yankee is owned by the Burke Racing Stable LLC.
Fan Of Terror increased his seasonal earnings to $57,100 with a 1:52.2 gate-to-wire score in the $20,000 Open II Pace. It was the fifth win in six tries in 2019 for four different trainers. The seven-year-old Western Terror gelding has temporarily resided in the Tyler George, Walter Haynes Jr. and Brady Galliers stables, as it swept through the $20,000 Claim To Fame series at Miami Valley, then was grabbed via the claim box for $30,000 by owner Therl Hensley and trainer Pete Redder last week.
(Miami Valley Raceway)