Miami Valley Raceway paid tribute to one of southwest Ohio’s racing ‘legends’ on Friday night (March 17) when the $22,500 Herb Coven Jr. Memorial Series championship was decided.
Coven, one of nine deceased former great Lebanon Raceway horsemen remembered annually with the Legends Series, is best known as the trainer/driver of the outstanding pacing mare Norma Ruth Hanover, but also was a good friend or mentor to many of the drivers and trainers who continue to race at Miami Valley today.
Crazy Bad K and Ken Holliday captured the championship with a last-to-first journey in the evenly matched field of nine. Holliday opted to allow the others, all at odds between 5-2 and 18-1, to battle for early position while retreating to ninth from a six-hole start. Just before the first quarter was reached, however, he decided it was time to launch a long overland journey that allowed the four-year-old mare to move up one notch by the half and forced her into moving three-wide at the three-quarters station. Second by the head of the stretch, the daughter of Big Bad John kept responding to Holliday’s urging and forged to a three-quarter length triumph in 1:54.3 over a moist surface. Sun Belle Sadie (Aaron Merriman) also closed from far back early to be runner-up while Glorious Delight (Trace Tetrick) grabbed the show payoff. Crazy Bad K returned $14.40 for a $2 win wager. She is owned by Black Magic Racing LLC of Ohio and trained by Sherri Holliday.
A race earlier, Jackies Rocket (Brady Galliers) zoomed to her second Open victory of the season, topping favoured Jerseylicious (Trace Tetrick) by a head in 1:53.2. Endeavors Fantasy (Mike Oosting) was next to trip the finish beam in the $20,000 race. Galliers, who also trains and co-owns the winner with his parents, departed from the five-year-old American Ideal mare’s customary tactics. After racing on the front end six consecutive weeks, Jackies Rocket was wrestled back to last in the compact field of six at the start, but gradually moved up in the outer flow through fractions of :27.1, :56.2 and 1:24.2 before bursting home with the fastest final panel to earn the lion’s share of the weekly feature’s purse. She paid $8 to win.
(Miami Valley Raceway)