Mojoto Hanover completed a clean sweep of the Tom Tharps Memorial Series on Saturday, April 7 at Miami Valley Raceway. The four-year-old Well Said gelding edged Classy Hill by a neck in a 1:51.4 mile with Limited Edition finishing third in the $27,500 championship final.
Mojoto Hanover was one of two series contenders that had each won a pair of $15,000 preliminary legs. The other, Herehecomesarockin, finished fifth in the final. The late closer featured horses and geldings that were non-winners of six pari-mutuel races or $60,000 lifetime.
Zachary Miller trains Mojoto Hanover, who now sports nine wins and $87,830 in earnings for owner Edward Dobrowolski. Tyler Smith was in the sulky.
The Tom Tharps Memorial honours the memory of the patriarch of a large racing family, many of whom are still active. His widow Carol was surrounded in the winner’s circle by a couple dozen children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, as well as son-in-laws and daughter-in-laws. One of Tom and Carol’s sons, Randy Tharps, is the winningest African-American driver in harness racing history by a wide margin.
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A pair of Open Paces were also presented on Saturday night. Angelo J Fra, driven by Chris Page, successfully stepped up in class to capture the $23,000 Open I in 1:51.2, his fourth victory in 11 starts this season. The six-year-old The Panderosa gelding is owned by Burke Racing and Weaver Bruscemi LLC and trained in Ohio by Kris Hinchcliff. Favoured My Hero Ron and recently-claimed Totally Kissed completed the trifecta.
My Buddy Ninksterm, piloted by Josh Sutton, won going gate to wire in 1:52.4 in the $20,000 Open II. Feelnlikearockstar and Prince Bayard got second and third respectively. The victory gave veteran trainer Bob Phillips his 999th career conditioning triumph.
My Buddy Ninkster is owned by John and Mary Krasnican.
(With files from Miami Valley)