After a winless month in January, Fan Of Terror (John DeLong) returned to his winning ways on Saturday night (Feb. 8) at Miami Valley Raceway.
The eight-year-old Western Terror gelding, whose 18 victories in 2019 fell just one short of being the most in the country, captured the $25,000 Open Pace in 1:52 despite being saddled with a second-tier start in the full field of 10 of the Midwest’s finest older horses.
Driver John DeLong positioned Fan Of Terror fifth during the :26.4 first quarter and remained there until the halfway point in the mile was reached in :55. Swinging three wide up the backside and around the final turn, the winner moved up to third when the three-quarters timer flashed 1:23.1. Fan Of Terror proved strongest during the stretch drive when a cavalry of closers came calling. Longshot Beyond Delight, sent at 18-1, came closest to catching the winner while 5-2 Im A Big Deal finished third.
Fan Of Terror, owned by Therl Hensley and trained by Peter Redder, paid $13.40 to win. Coupled with Beyond Delight, the exacta payoff was a hefty $254.60. The 50-cent trifecta returned $476.45.
The first leg of the Bill Dailey Memorial Medley late-closing event featured three divisions on the card. The series began with the contestants squaring in a trio of $12,500 five-eighths mile dashes. Prelim two next Saturday (Feb. 15) will feature one mile races for $17,500 purses while the $25,000 championship will be decided over a mile-and-a-quarter distance.
First leg winners were American Dreamer (Kayne Kauffman, 1:09.1, $4.80), Lifeonthebeach A (Chris Page, 1:08.3, $2.40) and Dave And Dennis (Sam Widger, 1:09.2, $7.00).
The Dailey Memorial Medley honours the memory of James “Bill” Dailey, one of the finest conditioners of young horses in Ohio’s storied harness racing history. Dailey won seven of the eight divisional Ohio Sires Stakes championships offered for two- and three-year-old Buckeye breds during his career and had a prime contender for the only one missing on his impressive resume at the time of his sudden and unexpected passing in 2018.
(Miami Valley Raceway)