Following a second-place finish at Harrah's Philadelphia eight days prior, Spring Blake returned to his winning ways — and his home track — with a gutsy 1:51.2 score over J M Mandamin in the $16,438 Open Handicap Pace at Rosecroft Raceway on on Monday, April 20.
Bet down to 1-5 favouritism from his assigned outside post seven, Spring Blake and driver Russell Foster rolled comfortably through splits of :26.2, :55.1 and 1:24 with J M Mandamin (Frank Milby) close in tow from the pocket throughout. Approaching the final turn, Layton Hanover (Roger Plante Jr.) angled off the pegs from third to mount a mild first-over bid and narrowly took second off the turn for home. Spring Blake parried Layton Hanover's challenge at the eighth pole, but his toughest test came from J M Mandamin, who lunged up the open stretch in the final yards, only to come up a quarter-length short. Layton Hanover finished third, beaten another 2-1/4 lengths.
Spring Blake, a five-year-old Courtly Choice-Spring Break ridgling owned and trained by Johnny Crites Jr., paid $2.60 in winning his fifth consecutive Rosecroft start.
Brother Dick (William Carter, $5.80) and Poseidon Deo (Jonathan Roberts, $4) became the only two-time winners in the Spring Fever Claiming Series, for $113,699 claiming pacers, winning their third-round preliminary divisions in 1:53.4 and 1:54, respectively. All In Jest (Eric Davis, $44.60) posted a 21-1 upset in the final division, rallying up the open stretch for a 1:55.3 score.
The series concludes with a $16,800 USD (estimated) final next Monday, April 27, with the projected field consisting of the following nine horses (in order of points earned): Brother Dick, Poseidon Deo, Capo Bovino, Trey Rockette, Blue Label, All In Jest, Rose Run Zoar, Big Truss and Bettor Sea.
Eric Davis and Justin Walters led all drivers with three wins apiece on the 13-race card.
There were multiple winners in the 50-cent Jackpot Hi-5, with the 8-2-5-3-6 combination returning $535.10. The carryover to Thursday, April 23 is $10,208.21.
Rosecroft will host live harness racing on Mondays and Thursdays through April before shifting to Thursdays and Saturdays in May, through the meet finale on May 16. Nightly first post is 7:15 p.m.
(With files from Rosecroft Raceway; photo of Spring Blake from a previous win)