Lebanon, OH — Seaside Way (Chris Page), a promising 3-year-old son of Downbytheseaside, upended heavily favored EL’s Rocker (Mike Peterson) in the final stride to capture the $25,000 championship final of the Omar Hiteman Memorial Series at Miami Valley on Sunday (April 10).

The 1:52 clocking equaled the lifetime best of Seaside Way, who paid $23.40 to win.

Seaside Way upset 1-9 favorite EL’s Rocker to win the $25,000 final of the Omar Hiteman Memorial Series. Conrad photo.

Page sat patiently in third as EL’s Rocker put up moderate first half fractions of :27.4 and :57 before speeding up to trip the three-quarters in 1:24.1. As the field was coming off the final bend, Seaside Way was angled to the outside and began shortening the open lengths margin the favorite was enjoying.

By midstretch it became obvious that the winning Ron Burke trainee had a shot and the two-horse race was on — right to the finish line. It took the photo finish camera to determine that Seaside Way had snapped EL’s Rocker on the wire. Rockin Sandsave (Trace Tetrick) enjoyed a pocket ride throughout and garnered the show dough.

Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi, Knox Services and Slaughter Racing own Seaside Way, who only managed one win as a freshman but banked $72,960 in 10 starts. Thus far in 2022 he has had three starts with a 1-1-1 scorecard and $17,690 earned.

Next start for Seaside Way may be in a $20,000 elimination heat of the annual James K. Hackett Memorial on Thursday (April 21). Top finishers return for a $50,000 Hackett final on April 28. The Hackett series features four divisions for pacers and trotters with colt and filly splits. Total purses for the Ohio-sired Hacketts, which annually signal the start of the Ohio stakes season, could exceed $400,000.

Racing resumes at Miami Valley on Monday (April 11) through Thursday (April 14) with a 4:05 p.m. post time each afternoon.