Ontario-sired I Found My Beach found his stride on Saturday evening at Scioto Downs Racino, setting a new track record for four-year-old pacing geldings in the Open I Handicap.
With Dan Noble driving, the pair went in 1:50.3, taking one-fifth of a second off the previous track record set by Full Of Sand and Aaron Merriman last year.
“I like him a lot,” said Noble. “He’s a very easy horse to get along with, easy going and does everything you ask. We just wanted to leave and get to the front and just keep going forward.”
The gelding has won six races in a row since the Levy Series at Yonkers Raceway, taking races at The Meadows, Hoosier Park and Scioto. Those six wins have earned him $53,000 in two and a half months, boosting his lifetime earnings to $468,588.
“It’s the second time I’ve driven him, he’s a consistent horse week to week and seems to take care of himself.”
I Found My Beach is by Mach Three out of the Stand Forever mare Ohio Annie. Bred by New Albany, Ohio resident Robert Kauffman, the horse made his way to Canada with part-owner and trainer Robert McIntosh. The mare didn’t make much on the track, but this first foal of hers has set a high precedent for her future foals. Herres Stables LLC of Bellbrook, Ohio bought I Found My Beach in January of this year and put him in the care of trainer Virgil Morgan Jr., who sent him east, first to The Meadows then Yonkers for the Levy Series.
Noble and trainer Morgan Jr. have been a dominant force at Scioto so far this year. Noble was sitting second in the driver standings through June 10 with 40 wins on 210 starts; leading driver Tony Hall had 45 wins in 209 starts. Morgan Jr. had 31 wins in 89 starts for a .464 UTRS. The next closest trainer in terms of wins is local conditioner Jim Arledge Jr. with 11 in 82 starts.
“We make a good team,” said Noble of his partnership with Morgan Jr. “I try to drive everything he’s got as long as my own horses aren’t in the same race. It’s been a little tough with that. He’s the number one trainer I drive for.”
(With files from Scioto Downs)