The 18th and final weekly $20,000 Open I Pace shared the spotlight with seven divisions of first leg Buckeye Stallion Series action for sophomore pacers and trotters on the Saturday program at Miami Valley Raceway.
It took Night Pro (Ronnie Wrenn, Jr.) two tries to get his first win at Miami Valley, but owner-trainer Dale Decker’s pride and joy did it in style, topping trainer Dan Ater stablemates Arti Gras (Aaron Merriman) and Kiss Of Terror (Kyle Ater) in 1:51.
Except for a very quick “give-and-go” with My Buddy Ninkster just past the quarter-mile mark of the race, Night Pro showed his heels to the field through fractions of :27.1, :54.4 and 1:22.4 before stopping the timer :28.1 seconds later.
The seven-year-old stud, sired by Pro Bono Best and out of the great race mare Midnight Jewel, won for the 46th time in 81 career trips to post and boosted his earnings to $733,182. His amazing recent scorecard includes 16 wins and 11 place finishes in his 28 2016-17 starts. The only blemish was a race in which he suffered broken equipment and had to be pulled up out of the race.
A total of ten different pacers won the weekly Open feature, with a trio of them notching three wins apiece during the meet.
Latest Desire, Franzo and Kiss Of Terror each completed that feat, with Meadowbrook Thunder and My Buddy Ninkster each capturing a pair. Winning a single weekly feature during Miami Valley’s fourth season were My Kindachip, Angelo J Fra, Gerries Sport and Control Tower, in addition to Night Pro.
Two Buckeye Stallion Series divisions for Ohio-sired trotting colts were contested for $12,500 purses.
Back The Bank was the first of three stakes victories for driver Chris Page when he guided the son of Break The Bank K to a 2:02 score over Dream Field (Aaron Merriman) and Tadys Count (Marty Wollam).
Marvin Craft trains the winner for owner Ted Boschma. Back The Bank now has 11 wins in his first two seasons: seven at Ohio county fairs in 2016, three in overnight races at Northville Downs to start his 2017 season, and his most recent and richest win at Miami Valley.
Queens Ripsnort captured the second trot split for driver Aaron Merriman, who also captured a trio of stakes on the night. The Jeff Cox-trainee lived up to his heavy favouritism, lowering his record to 1:58.4 while beating At My Request (Ronnie Wrenn, Jr.) and DJ Delight (Chris Page).
The gelded son of Deep Chip was a five time winner at Ohio county fairs as a freshman, banking $15,418 for owner Michael Soehnlen.
Happy Harvey (Aaron Merriman) topped Uncle Reimus (Peter Wrenn) and Velocity Sub Z (Mark Evers) in the first pacing split, clocked in 1:55.
Kelly O’Donnell trains the Art Official colt for David Miller, Lindwood Farm and Andray Farm.
Dirty Steve (Chris Page) bested Basher (Jeremy Smith) and Official Delight (Aaron Merriman) in 1:55.3 in the second split. Mark Rowe trains the son of Feelin Friskie, who is owned by Matt Rowe.
Favoured Riggle Wealth put Page back in the winner’s circle with a relatively easy 1:54.4 tally over Luvyatothemoon (Dan Noble) and Three Card (Jeff Nisonger).
Ron Burke conditions the Foreclosure N colt for Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi and Pete Collura. He remains undefeated with his first two lifetime starts both wins at Miami Valley.
Norm At Work (Aaron Merriman), another from the Kelly O’Donnell Stable, topped Official Star (Jeremy Smith) and Here Comes Stubbie (Kayne Kauffman) in 1:54.3.
The son of Big Bad John-Up Front Norma is owned by Miller’s Stable and K O Racing Stable.
Up On The Outside (Peter Wrenn) gave sire Foreclosure N his second winner when he held off Cannonball Cam (Jeremy Smith) and Naturally Bad (Aaron Merriman) in 1:56.
Galliers Racing LLC owns the black gelding who won for the second time in his promising young career.
The 2017 season at Miami Valley concludes with matinees on Sunday and Monday afternoons. The Sunday program features the $86,400 Miami Valley Distaff Grand Circuit stake for the sport’s finest older trotting mares. The elite field includes Hannelore Hanover, Charmed Life, Kestrel, Churita, Barn Girl, Flowers N Songs and Southside Hanover.
Closing day on Monday features the $100,000 Chip Noble Memorial for the best active older pacing mares in the sport. The entrants are Sandbetweenurtoes, No Clouds Bluechip, Divas Image, Lady Shadow, Medusa, Enhance Your Mind, Darlinonthebeach, Blue Moon Stride and Pure Country.
Post time both Sunday and Monday is 2:05 p.m.
(Miami Valley Raceway)