Northville, MI — Skyway Rockatop and driver David Lake used the ‘give-and-go’ maneuver successfully to win Friday’s (May 19) featured $10,800 Mares Open Pace at Northville Downs.

From post position two, Lake and Skyway Rockatop shot to the lead in the opening turn, but faced immediate pressure from Rockinattheryman and driver Marc St. Louis Jr. Lake decided to yield control, only to come right back to take the lead by the quarter pole and never look back. The pair faced continued pressure in the mile from several challengers, but they held them all off to win by a diminishing head in 1:57.1 over sloppy going. Passionate Deo and Kim Pluta, parked out from the start, surged late to just miss while Princess Rougarou and Kody Massey settled for third.

The win marked the 13th career victory for Skyway Rockatop, a 5-year-old daughter of JK Endofanera owned by Marilyn Breuer-Bertera and trained by Roger Bertera.

Three drivers had driving doubles on the night — Lake, Jason Merriman and Kody Massey — while driver Bart Stimer nailed career driving win 992 of his career. Merriman, who is the current leading driver at Northville, is now just 30 wins away from career driving win 3,000 following his double on the night.

Racing at Northville Downs resumes Saturday (May 20) at 7 p.m. Live racing continues every Friday and Saturday evening now through Sept. 30. For live racing dining reservations, call Northville Downs in advance at 248.924.2073.