Golden Bay N was in strong command to conquer the $30,556 Open Pace at Hoosier Park on Friday, May 29 in wire-to-wire fashion.
Shooting out of the gate in post three, Golden Bay N and driver Trace Tetrick spearheaded to the top beating out the rest of the six-horse field to the opening turn. The pacers soon found their spots as Sanday A (Brandon Bates) settled in behind Ardens Ace N (LeWayne Miller), who sat in behind the leader Golden Bay N meeting the quarter in :26.4.
Racing as a loose leader on the backstretch, Golden Bay N started to build some breathing room from the single-file field. Clocking the halfway point in :54.4, Golden Bay N remained in cruise control as the field remained unchanged before the post time favourite Crooked Smile (Jordan Ross) bounced to the outside in fifth while Golden Bay N opened up by three lengths at three-quarters in 1:22.4. Crooked Smile continued to gain ground with M M S Bud (John DeLong) tagging along from behind.
M M S Bud attempted a late charge at the leader; however, Golden Bay N had the door shut since the start of the race, nailing the wire in 1:49.4 to win by an easy length. M M S Bud accelerated into second, with Fox Valley Kodiak (Kyle Wilfong) rallying for third.
The seven-year-old Downbytheseaside-Hug Me Squeeze Me gelding is trained by Tyler George and owned by Castaldo Racing Stable of Addison, Illinois and T G Stable of Anderson, Indiana. Golden Bay N, who is now two-for-seven this year, improved his lifetime earnings to $333,446 with his 23rd triumph.
Golden Bay N paid $8.20 as the 3-1 second choice.
Capitalizing on a fast track at Hoosier, Rip Wheeler, driven by Brandon Bates for trainer Walter Haynes Jr., posted the fastest mile of the meet thus far at 1:48.1 in the $25,000 Open 2-3.
Rip Wheeler started out of post four, zooming to the lead in a first quarter of :26.1. He remained the leader at the halfway point in :53.4 despite pressure from 3-2 favourite Naturally Gifted A (Atlee Bender). Rip Wheeler lost the lead briefly before regaining it at the three-quarters in 1:21.. Building steam down the stretch despite drifting out, Rip Wheeler cruised to victory by 3-1/4 lengths on the wire over Shooting In Place (Jordan Ross) and Yourwishisgranted (Kevin Lambright).
The winning seven-year-old Rockin Image-Novascotia Hanover gelding, who has won half of his eight seasonal starts, is owned by Jeff Fought Racing of East Bernstadt, Kentucky, Brian Carsey of Cambridge City, Indiana, David Fought of Nicholasville, Kentucky and Lili Haynes of Alexandria, Indiana. Matching his career mark, Rip Wheeler boosted his lifetime earnings to $692,596 with his 33rd victory.
Rip Wheeler paid $12.60 to win as the 5-1 third choice on the betting board.
Racing for the week concludes at Hoosier Park on Saturday, May 30 with a 12-race program set to get underway at 5:30 p.m. The $22,000 USD Open Trot in race eight serves as the headliner on Saturday, with On To Norway in search of his 26th consecutive victory from the outside post eight.
(With files from Hoosier Park)