Ronald Short's homebred Babes All In rode the pocket to an odds-on victory in the $34,932 Maryland Sire Stakes for four- and five-year-old pacers on Sunday, July 7 at Ocean Downs.
A two-time Maryland Sire Stakes series champion — once at two, once at three — Babes All In and driver Jonathan Roberts landed in a clear pocket behind Smooth Rocket (Russell Foster) to stalk fractions of :27.2, :57.4 and 1:27. Roberts edged the four-year-old gelded son of Rustys All In-Aunt Babe off the pegs with three-sixteenths to go and the pair surged past a driven Smooth Rocket in mid-stretch to win by a widening length in 1:55. Phoenix Rising (Frank Milby) finished third.
Babes All In paid $2.80 to win in his sixth victory from 20 starts this season. The 13th victory of his career sent his earnings over the $200,000 mark.
Speed was on display late in the program as 2022 Breeders Crown winner Ammo ($2.80, Roberts) sprinted to a 1:51.1 win in the $15,068 Open 2 Pace for the meet's second-leading trainer Michael Hall, setting a new track record for older pacing stallions and tying the overall track record. He was then outdone in the $12,000 Open 1 Handicap Pace by five-year-old gelding Iwannabewithyou ($12.20), who broke the all-age track record by three-fifths of a second with a 1:50.3 performance, defeating Lyons Stealth and Nuttin But Finesse by seven lengths for driver Trae Porter and trainer Kevin Lare.
Racing returns to Ocean Downs on Tuesday, July 9. The 13-race program includes the first preliminary round of the Bucky Gray Jr. Memorial, a late-closing series for two-year-old pacers. First post is 7:05 p.m.
(Ocean Downs)