Converting a pocket trip, driver David Miller and the Dr. Ian Moore-trained Shadow Play upended Badlands Nitro in the first division of the first heat of the Little Brown Jug this afternoon at the Delaware Ohio County Fairgrounds.
The victory was clocked in 1:50. Badlands Nitro (driven by Brian Sears) finished second, while Giddy Up Lucky (Paul MacKenzie) finished third.
Badlands Nitro cut the fractions in :27, :55.2 and 1:23.3. Miller tipped Shadow Play, a black son of The Panderosa, before the three-quarters. The colt responded in full, coming home full of pace.
"I've raced with Brian Sears long enough to know his tricks there," Miller explained about pulling the pocket before the third stanza. "If I waited any longer, I would've gotten locked in and he (Sears) wouldn't have let me out.
"I've got a lot of confidence in my horse, and from the top of the backstretch to the wire I knew I could do that (pull the pocket early) and be alright.
"Those are two nice horses there. And even with those fractions, that's a cheap half for those horses unpressured."