In near gate-to-wire fashion, Ontario Success and driver John DeLong captured the featured event of the evening, a $21,000 Invitational pace, at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Saturday, June 18.
Slightly dismissed at the windows at 6-1, Ontario Success was able to hold off his rivals late in the lane to score in 1:49.4, just a few ticks of his career best. It was a seasonal best mark and also equaled the fastest mile of the 2016 season through the first 50 nights of racing at Hoosier Park.
Leaving from post seven in a talented field of nine, DeLong settled off the gate along the rail in seventh while a host of others left aggressively for the lead. Nitro and Ricky Macomber Jr. were the first to get a call through the opening panel in :26.2 but their lead would be short lived as Sam Widger had Night Pro pointed to the front. Night Pro was able to grab command just past the half :55 but would yield the lead to Ontario Success approaching the final turn.
Ontario Success was in command at third station in 1:22.2 but Night Pro wasn’t going away easily. As the rest of the field began to close in on the top pair, DeLong asked Ontario Success for more. Using a :27.2 final quarter, Ontario Success dug in gamely to get the win by a length over Night Pro. K Lees Shakenbake and Jason Dillander staged a big rally late in the lane to round out the trifecta. Ontario Success returned $15.60 to his backers at the betting windows.
Trained by Ron Burke, Ontario Success scored his eighth win from 11 seasonal outings. The gelded son of Lis Mara-Loving Successor has now won 22 of 76 lifetime outings while bankrolling more than $280,000 for his connections of Burke Racing and Weaver Bruscemi.
The win was also one of three driving wins on the evening’s 13-race for driver John DeLong. DeLong is currently second on Hoosier Park’s leading driver standings with 89 victories on the season through 55 nights of racing. Trace Tetrick leads all drivers with 127 victories in 2016.
Live harness racing at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino will continue on Tuesday, June 21 with a daily racing post time of 5:45 p.m. Live racing will follow a Tuesday through Saturday schedule and be conducted through November 12.
(with files from Hoosier)