No Foolin April dug in down the stretch to complete a coast-to-coast victory in the featured $49,315 Fillies and Mares Open Handicap Pace on Thursday, April 30 at Miami Valley Raceway.
Leaving from post six, No Foolin April was off the wings quickly and cleared to the front for Brett Miller before the opening turn. Dragon By The Sea (Tyler Smith) got away second from the pylon post in a :26.4 first panel. As they passed the stands for the first time, High Flyin Filly (Chris Page) led the charge first-up with Beautiful Seaside (Trevor Smith) on her tail to the half in :55.2. The order remained the same up the backstretch with No Foolin April leading the first-over High Flyin Filly and Dragon By The Sea and Beautiful Seaside right behind.
High Flyin Filly surged through three-quarters in 1:23.2 and took the lead by a length on the final turn but was unable to clear No Foolin April, who battled back to draw even at the top of the stretch. No Foolin April then rebuffed her challenger as High Flyin Filly succumbed to the overland trip. Beautiful Seaside shifted off her cover and closed on the outside while Dragon By The Sea attacked up the rail, but No Foolin April held on to win by a neck over Beautiful Seaside in 1:52. Dragon By The Sea was third. The entire field was covered by 2-1/4 lengths at the wire.
No Foolin April won the first Fillies and Mares Open of the year back in January and has now captured the final rendition of that class of the meet. The daughter of Nob Hill High-Princess Baby Ella finished with five Open Pace victories to lead all mares. She also led all pacers in earnings at the 2026 meet with $153,517, increasing her career bankroll to $725,223. The Thursday win was the 22nd lifetime in 65 starts for the homebred owned and trained by Adam Short. She paid $4.60 to win.
Brett Miller led all drivers with three wins on the 14-race card. Chris Page, Trevor Smith and Luke and Austin Hanners each had a double. Trainer Mark Winters sent out two winners.
Closing night for the Miami Valley 2026 season will be on Saturday with a special post time of 1 p.m. The card will feature eight divisions of the Ohio Sires Stakes and the Grade 3 $100,000 USD Pacey Mindlin Memorial Invitational.
(With files from Miami Valley Raceway)