Hot As Hill and Pub Crawl captured Wednesday’s (Sept. 22) divisions of the Buckette Stakes for three-year-old female trotters during an action-packed Jugette undercard on a rainy afternoon at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in central Ohio.
Hot As Hill won the first $45,825 division of the Buckette by 6-3/4 lengths over Guccios Lady in 1:57 on a sloppy track. Treasure Gems K was third.
Joe Bongiorno, driving for trainer Ron Burke, guided 1-9 favourite Hot As Hill to the lead as the field approached the first quarter and was unthreatened the rest of the way. The fractions for the mile were :29.2, :58 and 1:26.4.
The win was Hot As Hill’s sixth in 15 races this year, and her fourth victory in a row. She has won nine of 28 career starts, earning $247,511.
A daughter of Muscle Hill out of Smarty Pants, Hot As Hill is owned by Burke Racing Stable, Larry Karr, Knox Services and J&T Silva-Purnel & Libby. She was bred by Stan Klemencic of Trenton, Ont.
Hot As Hill paid $2.10 to win.
In the second division, Pub Crawl went to the lead on the first turn and never looked back, setting fractions of :28.2, :58.3 and 1:28.1 on her way to a 1:57.2 score. May Karp was second, beaten by a half-length, and Dutiful was third.
Andy Miller drove Pub Crawl for trainer Julie Miller and Ontario-based owners Marvin and Lynn Katz, Al Libfeld and Sam Goldband. The daughter of Bar Hopping-Myth was bred by Fair Winds Farm and Steve Jones.
For the season, Pub Crawl has won four of 13 races. For her career, she has eight victories in 27 starts, earning $346,671.
Pub Crawl paid $3.60 to win as the 4-5 favourite.
A Girl That Twirls won Wednesday’s $42,710 Standardbred Stakes for two-year-old female pacers and Simply Right won the $46,310 Standardbred for two-year-old female trotters.
In the Standardbred pace, A Girl That Twirls won in 1:59 with Andy McCarthy driving for trainer Deborah Daguet. Gonna Be Good was second and Wine N Dine Me finished third.
Start Takin It Off led the field to the opening quarter in :29.3 but went off stride approaching the half-mile point. Wine N Dine Me was in front at the half, reached in :59.3, before A Girl That Twirls came calling on the backstretch and took the lead prior to hitting three-quarters in 1:29.1. She won by three-quarters of a length.
A Girl That Twirls, the 1-9 favourite, is owned by D Racing Stable. The daughter of American Ideal-Heels On The Beach was bred by Crawford Farms. She has won three of seven races this season, earning $105,222.
She paid $2.20 to win.
In the Standardbred trot, Simply Right won in 2:01.4 with Tim Tetrick driving for trainer Anette Lorentzon. Pocahontas finished second and Adjure Hanover overcame an early break to be third.
Simply Right was second through the first half of the mile, with Ladybugs N Bourbon setting the fractions of :31 and 1:01.4. Simply Right went to the lead on her way to three-quarters in 1:32 and held off Pocahontas in the stretch to win by three-quarters of a length.
A daughter of Swan For All-Stirling Debutant, Simply Right is owned by Al Libfeld of Pickering, Ont. She was bred by Alan Troyer and Larry Troyer. She has won two of six races this year and earned $85,975.
Sent off at even money, Simply Right paid $4.20 to win.
Reichers Caviar (David Miller) overcame post position eight and passed Whats Up Cupcake (Tyler Smith) in the final strides to win the first of two $62,000 divisions of the Ohio Breeders Championship for two-year-old trotting fillies.
Reichers Caviar, who won in 2:04.1, is co-owned by Lance and Larry Baylis and trained by Chris Beaver. Her career earnings are just $313 short of $100,000 for the season.
Ill Annie Up (Chris Page) scored an 11-1 upset in the second $62,000 division. The Uncle Peter filly got by the pacesetting Gabbys C Note (Aaron Merriman) in mid-stretch to win in 2:02.2. Purple Aura (Anthony MacDonald) rallied for third.
Ill Annie Up made it two straight wins for owners Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Bill Donovan and Joe Sbrocco.
Mission Accepted (Chris Page) took the $17,500 OBC event for older trotters in 1:57.4.
The six-year-old son of Manofmanymissions won for the 32nd time in his career defeating Shine All The Way (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) by a half-length. Pure Chance (Aaron Merriman) and Yes (Anthony MacDonald) were third and fourth, respectively.
Mission Accepted, who has earned $1.1 million, is owned by Burke Racing Stable, Knox Services, David Wills and Weaver Bruscemi.
A pair of trainer Anette Lorentzon’s sophomore pacing fillies picked up victories in the Buckeye Stallion Series.
Lorentzon picked up her first win of the day as Aaron Merriman drove Reachthruthesky AS (sired by McArdle) gate-to-wire in 1:58.2 to win for the fourth time this year.
Merriman and Heavenissofaraway gave Lorentzon her second win of the day in 1:58.1. The daughter of Racing Hill rallied down the stretch to win by a neck. It was her second win of the year.
The third division of the three-year-old filly pace went to Racing Glory (sired by Racing Hill) in 1:58. Tim Tetrick guided the Mike Sweeney trainee to her third win of the year in 10 starts.
Two-year-old trotting colts excited the crowd with a dead heat in the second division. Outreach and Andy McCarthy rallied to catch Baker Time and Dan Noble at the finish line in 2:02. After a look at the photo, a dead heat was declared. Both Outreach, trained by Logan Powell, and Baker Time, trained by Deborah Swartz, earned their fifth wins of the year.
All Gas No Brakes won in the BSS for the third time as Trevor Smith and the Uncle Peter gelding took control at the top of the stretch on the way to a 2:02.2 score. All Gas No Brakes, a seven-time winner this year, is trained by Todd Luther.
Admire and Rose Run Xtatic were winners in the Buckeye Stallion Series for the first time this year.
Admire and Dan Noble tripped the wire in 2:01 for trainer Bob Stewart, while Kayne Kaufman drove Rose Run Xtatic to the win for trainer Mike Polhamus in 2:06.
The 20-race Thursday card, headlined by the 76th Little Brown Jug, presented by the Ohio Harness Horseman’s Association, will get underway at 12 noon.
(with files from USTA, Little Brown Jug, OHHA)