Naked On A Hill passed all five of her opponents in the stretch to win the $50,000 Fillies and Mares Open Handicap Pace on Thursday, April 9 at Miami Valley Raceway.
No Foolin April (Brett Miller) hustled out for the early lead while last week's Open winner, Hey Hey Mama (Luke Hanners), floated off the gate and was parked to the opening quarter in :26.1. Hey Hey Mama cleared to the lead just before the first pass of the tote board as No Foolin April settled for the pocket trip with Dragon By The Sea (Tyler Smith), Goo Goo Won (Austin Hanners), Naked On A Hill (Chris Page) and Hungry Lizzo (Trevor Smith) rounding out the order. Hungry Lizzo got underway from last on the way to the half in :54.3 and advanced uncovered until Dragon By The Sea pulled from third on the backside.
Dragon By The Sea was within a length of Hey Hey Mama at three-quarters in 1:22.4 while No Foolin April was now a pinned-in third with Hungry Lizzo second-over and Naked On A Hill moving into third-over position. Coming off the final turn, Hey Hey Mama was under attack from all sides as Dragon By The Sea continued to close in, Hungry Lizzo slipped out three-wide, No Foolin April slid up the inside and Naked On A Hill went widest, creating a five-horse battle for the win. Strongest of all was Naked On A Hill, who slingshotted by the group to win by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:51. No Foolin April was second with Hungry Lizzo finishing gamely for third.
Naked On A Hill recorded her fifth win of the year in 12 starts and her 26th in 74 lifetime outings. The five-year-old daughter of Nob Hill High-Naked By Nine is trained by Ron Burke and owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC. She has now earned $666,537. The win price was $10.20.
The $44,444 Fillies and Mares Open II Pace was a battle of two of the sharpest distaffs at Miami Valley right now, with Golden Magic, a winner of four straight, facing off against Duration, whose four-race streak ended in her last start. Duration (David Miller) fired out from the rail to take the early lead, but Golden Magic left hard from post five for Marc St. Louis Jr. and took control past an opening quarter of :27.
Duration promptly popped right back out to retake the lead, and she led through middle splits of :56 and 1:24.1. Golden Magic slid out past three-quarters, and the two mares locked horns around the final turn and through the stretch. Golden Magic wore down Duration to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:51.1. Dry Creek Princess (Tyler Smith) rounded out the triactor.
Golden Magic, who was making her first Open start after graduating from the non-winners-of-10 claiming class, is now nine-for-13 this season. The four-year-old Always B Miki-Dime A Dance mare is trained by Stacey Currie for Stephen Bateson. She has won 19 times in 55 career starts and has earned $203,391. Her backers received $5.60.
The feature win with Naked On A Hill was one of four for Page, who was the top driver on the 14-race card. Burke led the trainers with a double.
Racing action returns to Miami Valley on Sunday with a post time of 4 p.m.
(With files from Miami Valley)