Proving once again that the race is never over at the draw, the two horses that drew the outermost posts for the $25,000 Open I Pace at Miami Valley on Saturday, March 2 finished one-two at long odds.
Driver Tyler Smith sat chilly towards the back of the field as My Buddy Ninkster sprinted to the front and fended off challenges by Granite first and Nuclear Dragon. My Hero Ron was third over in the outer flow through the backside and had live enough cover to carry him to the head of the lane before swinging three wide for the stretch drive. Hitting the wire in 1:51.1, My Hero Ron surpassed $800,000 in earnings.
.jpg)
The Danny Dubeansky trainee, owned by Brian Witt and Cory Atley, was dispatched at 14-1 odds and paid $30.60 to the faithful who believed the ultra-consistent seven-year-old son of Well Said could do it from an outside start. Fan Of Terror was sent off at 20-1 to complete a $517.40 exacta.
A $20,000 Open II was captured by Mykindachip, who bested Feelnlikearockstar and Cinnamack in 1:50.4. It was the 55th victory from 200 starts for the 10-year-old son of Arts Chip and boosted his career bounty to $869,732. Page procured a two-hole trip for the winner, who hails from the Ron Burke Stable.
A pair of first leg George Williams Memorial Series divisions were contested earlier on the Saturday program. The late closer for non-winners of four races or $40,000 lifetime produced a pair of four-year-old winners who each took lifetime marks.
Gerardo, a recent $50,000 purchase at auction, sped to a 1:51.3 win over Noah Z Tam and Velocity U Betcha in the first $12,500 split. Kayne Kauffman, who eclipsed the $20 million mark in purse earnings on Friday, trains and drove the son of Rockin Image for new owner Mark Bogen.
Velocity Smoke, trained by Mark Evers for his Velocity Standardbreds stable and driven by Dan Noble, scored in the other division in 1:52, besting Trial By Fire and Reagans Avenger.
Racing resumes Sunday, March 3 with a 2:05 p.m. matinee.
(With files from Miami Valley)