Dragon City let 1-1 favourite Ants Marching do the heavy lifting on top, then powered past him in the lane to capture the Friday, May 24 feature at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows, an $18,493 conditioned pace.
Dragon City and Aaron Merriman stalked Ants Marching from the pocket. When Merriman cut Dragon City loose out of the final turn, he cruised past easily and triumphed in 1:50.2. Longshot Roll With Time was second, 3-1/2 lengths back, while Bronx Seelster rallied for show.
Randy Bendis conditions Dragon City and shares ownership with Pollack Racing. The five-year-old Heston Blue Chip-Dragon Town gelding now boasts a career bankroll of $176,268.
The win was one of five for Merriman on the 13-race card.
Jerry “Duke of Oil” Kehm and Rattling Pine powered from the pocket at the top of the lane and scored convincingly in Friday’s $13,699 Great Lakes Amateur Drives Association (GLADA) Trot.
Golden Compass and Braden Rhoades grabbed the early lead and would not release Ladys Dude and Tom “Mayhem” Svrcek, taking that rival out of the race. But the 1:25.3 three-quarters left Rhoades' trotter vulnerable, and he could offer no resistance when Kehm attacked with Rattling Pine and scored by three-quarters of a length in 1:55.2. Floyd Of Rosedale and Larry Ferrari finished second while Mind Yown Business and “Dirty” Dirk Simpson completed the ticket.
Crist Hershberger trains Rattling Pine, an eight-year-old Dejarmbro-Pinery gelding, for George Bonomo and Rose Bonomo.
Because the Greater Pittsburgh Food Truck Festival will be using part of the track on Saturday, there will be no live racing at The Meadows. Live racing resumes on Wednesday with first post at 12:45 p.m.
(With files from Meadows Standardbred Owners Association)