Jeremy Smith wrapped up the driving title at Miami Valley Gaming as he won three of the 12 $27,397 Buckeye Stallion Series divisions for three-year-old colt pacers and trotters on Thursday, May 2. All three of Smith’s wins came with pacers.
In the first of six divisions for the sophomore pacers, Smith raced Rock The Hill (pictured above) off the gate and the son of Racing Hill never looked back, cruising to an easy six-length victory in 1:51.3. Rock The Hill won for the second time in four seasonal starts, setting a new lifetime mark, shaving nearly three seconds off his old mark. Jessica Roegner trains and co-owns Rock The Hill with Paul O’Neil.
Smith’s second win of the card came in the second division as Wirelesscaller rallied down the stretch to nip favourite High On The Hill at the wire in 1:54. It was the second win in 10 starts this year for the Bullville Powerful colt. Wirelesscaller is trained by William Miller ll and owned by Trevor Miller.
The third division went to Threemargaritashot. The Pet Rock gelding and Aaron Merriman stalked leader Jonnys Sea Drop around the final turn and raced down the lane to win by a length in a new mark of 1:52.1. The win was the first in two outings for the sophomore trained by Randy Smith and owned by Jessica Smith.
What An Ocean View and Chris Page grabbed the lead in the fourth division at the three-quarter pole and held on to win by a length in a career-best 1:53.3. It was the first win of the year in five attempts for the Downbytheseaside gelding, who is trained by Ron Burke and owned by Burke Racing Stable, Knox Services, RAS Racing and J&T Siva-Purnell Libby.
In the fifth division, Side Bar had the lead at the top of the stretch, but Dancin Moon and Jeremy Smith shot down the passing to take command on the way to win by a length in 1:53.2. Trained by Herman Hagerman, Dancin Moon won for the first time this year in four starts. The son of Dancin Yankee is owned by Hagerman Racing, Charles Reeve and Melinda Hershberger.
The final division went to Attention Span and Brady Galliers. Attention Span fired from post eight, grabbing the lead and never looking back to win by a length in 1:54.1. It was the first win of the year from three starts for the Downbytheseaside gelding. Galliers trains Attention Span for Galliers Racing and David Kryway.
There were also six divisions for the three-year-old trotters.
What A Dandy and Sam Widger charged down the stretch splitting horses to win the first division by a length in 1:56.4. It was the first start of the year for the son of What The Hill and his first career win. What A Dandy is trained by Jim Arledge Jr. and owned by Jude Jacobs, Paul Phillips, Greg Buckey and William Buckey.
In the second division,
Sup, the 5-2 favourite, with Kurt Sugg fought off a challenge from Rankin up the backstretch and pulled away to win the third division by three lengths in 1:56.2. It was the second win in six starts for the son of What The Hill. Matthew Burkholder trains and co-owns Sup with Samuel Weaver.
The fourth division went to Chipstead and Chris Lems. Chipstead sat fourth around the final turn and went three-wide down the stretch catching Swan Hilluva Rush at the wire, winning by a neck in 1:57.4. It was the first win in eight starts this year and a new mark for the son of Volstead. Chipstead is trained and owned by Scott Cox.
In the fifth division, Tyler Smith and 8-5 favourite You Dont Fool Me were parked for the second half of the race but grabbed the lead at the top of the stretch and held on to win by a length in a career best 1:57. You Dont Fool Me has hit the board in both of his seasonal starts finishing first and second. Rosy Weaver trains and co-owns Long Tom gelding with Heartland Acres.
In the final division for the three-year-old trotters, Tom Swifty showed why he was the 3-5 favourite in the sixth division. Dan Noble raced the son of Long Tom up the backstretch to grab the lead and pull away to win by five lengths in a career best 1:56.2 for his first win of the year in three attempts. Tom Swifty is owned by Sandra Burnett and trained by Christi Noble.
The final day of racing at Miami Valley Gaming will be Saturday, May 4. The 14-race card starts at 12 p.m. and features the $100,000 USD Pacey “The Wizard” Mindlin Memorial, as well as the first leg of the Ohio Sires Stakes for three-year-olds. Sophomore filly pacers and trotters, and colt trotters will have one $100,000 USD division each, while there are two $65,000 USD divisions for the sophomore colt pacers.
(Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association)