A pair of $10,000 Open events highlighted Monday’s card of racing at Northfield Park, with Rose Run Logan and Forever Good earning bragging rights in their respective assignments.
Rose Run Logan sped to victory in the $10,000 Open Trot for owner/trainer Jeff Hochstetler of Uhrichsville, Ohio. Josh Sutton mapped out the winning trip.
Rose Run Logan (Armbro Laser-How Miraculous) started from post seven and was parked through fractions of :28.3 and :57.2. He took the lead approaching the three-quarter pole and completed the mile with times of 1:26.2 and 1:55.4. He was an uncontested 2-1/4 lengths in front at the wire. Pembroke Snapshot was second, with Julians Caesar taking home third prize.
Rose Run Logan now has 12 career successes and has won six of seven starts in 2014. Monday’s victory pushed his bankroll to $35,198. He paid $6.00 to win.
Forever Good captured the $10,000 Open Pace in the evening’s ninth race. Barry Langley trains the 10-year-old for the VIP Internet Stable of Piscataway, New Jersey. Chris Page was the winning driver.
Forever Good (Dream Away-Lasting Approval) started from post three and let his competition carve out fractions of :27, :55.3 and 1:24.2 before taking the lead in the stretch and besting his competition by a length in 1:53.4. Lyons JosephJNR was up for the place award, while Hall Of Memories settled for third.
Monday’s triumph increased Forever Good’s lifetime win tally to 32 and his earnings to $345,436. He returned $13.40 to win.
Northfield also hosted two divisions of the first legs of both the Legend Series and Hall of Fame Series. Both series are for $8,000 claimers with the Legend Series being for pacers and the Hall of Fame Series for trotters.
I Know Your Lookin (trainer Harla Loney / driver Josh Sutton) and Chase The Sun (trainer Brian Loney / driver Josh Sutton) won the divisions of the Legend Series. Mr Jesse (trainer Ron Burke / driver Chris Page) and Life Long Hanover (trainer Crist Hershberger / driver Josh Sutton) captured the divisions of the Hall of Fame Series.
Four horses were claimed out of the first leg of the series and Life Long Hanover, M A Roy, Nordic Venture and Soulful Delight have moved to new homes.
Driver Josh Sutton dominated most of the evening, posting eight successful drives on the night. Sutton, 31, began driving in 2000 and has since garnered 2,297 career victories and is approaching $13,000,000 in purse earnings. He has posted 99 victories so far this year over Northfield’s Flying Turns, ranking him second in the local driving ranks.
Only Ronnie Wrenn Jr. (102) has more local wins this year than Josh Sutton. Chasing Wrenn and Sutton are: Aaron Merriman (77), David Lake (44) and Robin Miller (42).
Sutton has been driving at Miami Valley on Northfield Park’s nights off and he has been winning there as well. He has 128 driving wins so far in 2014, ranking him as the seventh winningest driver so far this year in North America.
Only Aaron Merriman (161), Corey Callahan (153), Ronnie Wrenn Jr. (147), Ron Pierce (146), Brian Sears (140) and Dave Palone (134) have more wins this year than Sutton.
(Northfield Park)