Tattoo Artist rolled to his fifth consecutive victory with a 1:48 win in the $240,000 Dayton Pacing Derby on Saturday, Sept. 30 to conclude a record-setting night of Grand Circuit action at Hollywood Dayton Raceway.
Louis-Philippe Roy landed the six-year-old son of Hes Watching on the point to control fractions of :26.4, :55.1 and 1:21.4 before unleashing a :26.1 sprint home to defeat Little Rocket Man (Scott Zeron) by 1-3/4 lengths. Bythemissal (Yannick Gingras)f inished third after being locked in up the backstretch.
Dr. Ian Moore trains Tattoo Artist, now a triple millionaire for Let It Ride Stables, Frank Cannon, Diamond Creek Racing and Bottom Line Racing.
Hillexotic stalked the front flight and lifted to a 22-1 upset in the $240,000 Dayton Trotting Derby, nabbing the first-over Alrajah One IT (Dexter Dunn) by a neck in a track record 1:51.1. Its Academic (David Miller) finished third after setting fractions of :27.1, :54.3 and 1:22.3 and succumbing to stretch pressure.
Yannick Gingras drove the six-year-old Muscle Hill gelding for trainer Ron Burke and the partnership of Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi and Phil Collura. He now sits just shy of the millionaire plateau with $962,071 in earnings.
Grace Hill and driver Doug McNair made two moves en route to the top in the $242,500 Dayton Distaff, for pacing mares, and she held off the late charge of Prohibition Legal (Roy) to win by a half length in 1:49.2. Virgil Morgan Jr. trains the five-year-old daughter of Always B Miki, now a 28-time winner with more than $1.85 million in the bank, for owner Tom Hill.
Jiggy Jog S took full advantage of a second-over trip in the $240,000 Dayton Oaks, for distaff trotters, stalking HP Mama B (Roy) before flipping wide for the drive to engulf pacesetter M Ms Dream (Miller) by two lengths in 1:52.3. Dexter Dunn drove the four-year-old Walner mare for trainer Åke Svanstedt and owner Jorgen Sparredal Inc. She surpassed the $2 million mark in earnings with the victory, her 15th lifetime.
Replays of the Grand Circuit events are available below.
(With files from USTA)