Ocean Downs played host to the Maryland Standardbred Fund Races on Wednesday evening. The two day event kicked off with races involving three-year-old pacers and trotters
.
Jim Morand was the first driver to notch a victory in the event, winning the first race behind Jolt ($8.80). The pacing colt, trained by Don Milby, didn't make a move for the front until just before the final turn, where he turned on the speed and shot past Grab The Fortune on the inside to grab the win in 2:03:3.
The win in the first race must have tasted sweet, because Morand returned for more in the next fund race. This time Morand was in the sulky for AllAmerican Cheer ($3.00). Trainer Charles Tribbett described her as a good filly with few problems saying, "she's a fine filly that we want to eventually breed, but she does have a little trouble with on the turns."
The trotting filly started in the two hole, but fell back into third place at the start of the race. Datzfast began in the five hole, but sped to the front to pace the field to a :30:1 quarter mile.
AllAmerican sat three lengths back, as Datzfast cruised to a 1:02:1 half mile. Then the filly began her quest for the lead and quickly caught up next to the leader on the outside. Racing down the homestretch, both competitors refused to give up the lead, but AllAmerican Cheer persisted and eventually pulled away to win it by one
length in 2:03:4.
Morand was happy with the filly's performance on the turns stating, "I scored her down before the race and got a feel for how she would react on the turns. I felt I could handle her and she did do well on them. She raced great! Coming down the homestretch she still had enough in her to get there first."
It wouldn't be a far-fetched assumption to think that Jim Morand had a good day at the track. He swept the fund races, winning the third one with I Love The Beach ($2.60). The filly won the pacing mile in 1:57:4.
In the fourth and last fund race of the day, Morand was first to the wire with Flag Of Honor ($15.00). This gelding got to the wire in 1:55:4. Joseph Mac Donald trains the horse out of Downingtown, Pennsylvania.
The second half of the Maryland Standardbred Fund Races will be run tomorrow, Thursday, August 20th. Jim Morand will be back to try to sweep the entire event, with four different horses on Thursday's card.
(Ocean Downs)