A pair of eliminations for the $40,000 James K. Hackett Memorial championship for Ohio-sired three-year-old pacing colts were contested on Saturday, April 13 at Miami Valley Raceway.
Two of the biggest and most successful stables in the sport were well represented and each won a division. Brian Brown advanced all three of his entrants to the final with a win and two second place finishers. Ron Burke qualified just one of his four, but that one was an impressive winner. Driver Chris Page was in the sulky hitched to both winners, one for Brown and one for Burke.
Dislocator copped the first split in 1:51.1, turning back High On Paydaze, Yankee Boots and Dashing To Da Wire. In seven starts as a two-year-old, the son of Big Bad John produced two wins, two seconds and two thirds with earnings of $113,116. Both the winner and runnerup hail from the Brown barns at the Delaware, OH County Fairgrounds and were making their first starts after two qualifiers at Spring Garden Ranch in Florida, where they wintered. High On Paydaze won five of seven freshman starts including the $275,000 Ohio Sires Stakes championship, a race in which Dislocator finished third last September.
“Dislocator was a nice colt last year,” said Page in the winner’s circle, “and he seems to have grown a little and matured quite a bit over the winter. He seems to have it all together now.”
Seattle Hanover found a seam in the lane to score in the second Hackett division for the Burke Brigade. The Dragon Again gelding just nipped Smackitwithahammer by a head in 1:51.3. Also advancing to the final next week are Ohio Vintage, Bombay Hanover and See You In Tuscanny, who qualified for the nine-horse championship tilt as the fastest fifth place finisher.
Although the colt has earned over $60,000 already, Seattle Hanover collected just his second win.
“When Ronnie puts a horse in to race, I know it is ready to rock,” Page said. “It’s a pleasure to be in this situation, driving good horses for great trainers.”
Granite, driven by Brett Miller, was a repeat winner in the weekly $25,000 Open I Pace, scoring in 1:50.2 over 28-1 shot Sadiq Hanover and Sectionline Bigry.
Scoring his fourth victory from 13 starts this season, Granite pushed his earnings to over $78,000 already this season and over $435,000 lifetime. The six-year-old gelded son of Real Desire is owned by The Panhellenic Stable and trained by Ken Rucker.
(with files from Miami Valley)