None Bettor A — a newcomer from Down Under — continues to take the U.S. by storm, winning the $200,000 Battle of Lake Erie on Saturday, June 8 in 1:49 to match the all-age track record at Northfield Park.
Joe Bongiorno drove None Bettor A for his sister Jennifer Bongiorno, who trains the pacer for co-owners and long-time Billings amateur drivers Joe P Racing LLC (Joe Pennachio) of Florida and Steve Oldford of Michigan.
None Bettor A started from post six and fired to the lead from the gate. He remained in control the entire mile through fractions of :26.4, :55, 1:22 and 1:49, besting his closest rival, the Ontario owned and sired Jimmy Freight, by one-and-a-quarter lengths.
“He feels good and does everything on his own,” Joe Bongiorno said after the race. “He puts his head down and really has fun out there. I’m not sure where we go from here. He is not staked at all. Hopefully he continues to get invited to races like this one, and I’m not even sure how many of these Invites there are. We work very hard and this horse is giving us a shot that I feel we deserve. This is going to be a special horse.”
None Bettor A (Bettors Delight - Limerick Star) increased his career bankroll to $229,245 by taking home the lion’s share of the healthy $200,000 purse.
Completing the 2019 Battle field were Jimmy Freight, Southwind Amazon, The Wall, Filibuster Hanover, Bully Pulpit, Rodeo Rock and Always A Prince.
Only Take Cash and Pure Chance both captured their respective $50,000 Ohio Sires Stakes divisions during the program. Set early in the 16-race card, the two sires stakes contests for three-year-old trotting fillies were the preamble events to the Battle of Lake Erie.
Only Take Cash, last season’s two-year-old Ohio Sires Stakes champion, took her division handily in wire-to-wire fashion. The 6-5 favourite posted a 1:54.1 win with Aaron Merriman at the lines. The duo held off 7-2 rival Aunt Rose (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) by half a length at the wire. Ryan Stahl guided 11-1 Wicked Sugar to a third-place finish.
Only Take Cash, a daughter of Cash Hall, is conditioned and co-owned by trainer Robert McIntosh and partners Dave Boyle and Mardon Stables, all of Ontario. She had finished third in the first leg of this series on May 3 at Miami Valley Raceway.
Only Take Cash upped her career earnings to $328,140 lifetime and now has ten wins from 12 career starts. The homebred is the fifth foal out of the Garland Lobell mare Armbro Affair 4, 1:53.4s ($430,997), with half-siblings in Tough Affair (by Muscle Mass) 4, 1:59.2f ($69,968); A Fair Conchnito (by In Conchnito) 4, 1:58.2 ($33,866).
Pure Chance and driver Jason Thompson left nothing to chance as they captured the other sires stakes division with an easy, front-stepping 1:54.2 score. The daughter of Triumphant Caviar left the gate as the 7-1 choice and glided to a three and three-quarter-length triumph for trainer Chris Beaver and co-owner Steven Zeehandelar.
Princessofpink, who held up the race for several minutes after returning to the paddock for a shoe repair, was a smart second for driver Tony Hall at 9-2 odds, while another Beaver trainee, 8-1 Back Splash, was third for Ronnie Wrenn Jr.
Pure Chance, who was bred by Jonas Schabach of Ohio, has now banked $134,745 in her career and has earned $37,500 in sires stakes competition thus far in 2019. She is out of the Credit Winner mare Jewell Creek and is a full sister to sires stakes winner Sesame 3, 1:55.1f ($245,227) and Jewels N Caviar 4, 1:59h ($31,392) and has a half-sibling in Explosive Ripple (by Explosive Matter) 4, 1:58f ($88,287).
Ohio Sires Stakes action will continue on June 14 at Scioto Downs for three-year-old pacing fillies (Leg 2) and June 15 at Northfield Park for three-year-old trotting colts (Leg 2). Leg 3 for sophomore trotting fillies is slated to commence July 26 at Scioto Downs.
(with files from Northfield Park and the Ohio Sires Stakes)