Former two-time Ontario Sires Stakes champion Dont Rush, who was in no rush until the Open trotters at Miami Valley Raceway neared the three-quarter station on Tuesday (March 7) afternoon, did rush home from there -- swinging three-wide around the final bend and cruising to a 1:56 upset victory at 22-1 odds.
Driver Dan Noble was content to hug the pylons near the rear of the compact field of six with Dont Rush as favoured Somebody AS (Trace Tetrick) cut the mile over the sloppy track through fractions of :27.3, :56.2 and 1:25.1. I Know My Chip (Kayne Kauffman) and Penn (Jason Brewer) were also content to hug the pylons behind Somebody AS, but when the 6-5 favourite began to falter as the stretch was approaching, Parkhill Lancelot (Mike Oosting), Hes Got Pizzazz (Chris Page) and Dont Rush had formed an outer tier that prevented them from finding an early lane for the stretch drive. Dont Rush fanned three-wide with the fullest head of steam, while fellow longshot Hes Got Pizzazz got up for second and Parkhill Lancelot finished third.
Dont Rush returned $47.80 for a $2 win ticket, while the exacta paid $151.80 and a $2 trifecta was worth a whopping $1,634.40.
The partnership of Richard Lombardo, Carl Atley and the JJ&M Stable own the winner, who is trained by Bill Dailey. The five-year-old son of Infinitif now owns 18 wins in 51 starts and has earned $656,488.
(With files from Miami Valley Raceway)