Hightstown, NJ – Dustin Jones might not have been a fan of bingo night – the event – but Bingo Night the horse is an entirely different story.
Bingo Night, a filly whose name was inspired by Jones and his guests having their dinner conversation at a restaurant several years ago interrupted by a bingo event that used songs to determine a winner, is the 5-2 morning-line second choice in Saturday’s $385,000 (CAD) Grade 1 Peaceful Way Stakes for 2-year-old female trotters at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Jones bred Bingo Night, a daughter of Green Manalishi S-Cant Stop Tommi, with Hebert Horses Inc., and owns the filly with Hebert Horses and Sjoblom Racing. Matts Sjoblom was among those with Jones for dinner during the bingo episode.
“All of a sudden, they were playing music, and it was loud, and we couldn’t even talk,” Jones said with a laugh. “We found out it was bingo night there, where you have a sheet of paper with songs on it, and if the song played, you crossed it off on your bingo sheet. We said, we’re going to name a horse Bingo Night.”
Bingo Night, the horse, has been a winner for her connections. She has triumphed in four of five starts, including a prep race for Peaceful Way eligibles last week, and her 1:53.4 victory in an Ontario Sire Stakes Gold event on Aug. 4 at Mohawk equaled the ONSS record for freshman filly trotters and is the season’s fastest mile by a rookie trotter in Canada.
“She’s just got the will to do good, and she’s got a good set of lungs,” said Jones, whose son Tyler is Bingo Night’s regular driver. “You can’t put that in them. She wants to do it. These Green Manalishi fillies are really good. He throws good fillies, and this was sort of a filly family.”
Jones’ connection to the family began with the filly Tommi Canu Hearme, a daughter of Royalty For Life-Tommi My Girl who won a division of the Champlain Stakes and an Ontario Sire Stakes Gold for the trainer in 2018. Bingo Night’s mother, Cant Stop Tommi, is a full sister to Tommi Canu Hearme, but never made it to the races (other than one qualifier at age 2) because of a chip in a knee.
“She was awesome training down,” Jones said about Cant Stop Tommi. “She never made a break in training, then made a break in the qualifier. We found the chip, and it was too big to take out, so we decided to breed her.”
Bingo Night’s family also includes third dam Razzle Dazzle Tom, who was a standout on the Ontario circuit and made $573,921 in her career, and fourth dam Segriff, who was a multiple winner on the Grand Circuit.
“So, there is trot in the family,” Jones said.
Jones, who has a small group of broodmares with Hebert Horses, plus a couple of his own and one with his son, got good reports about Bingo Night when she was a yearling at Jeff Ruch’s Pinestone Farms.
“I keep my Ontario mares there; they do a great job,” Jones said. “(Jeff) told me last summer that she was the top filly yearling he had. She was the leader of the pack. We went up there one day, and the horses took off running and she was right on the trot, leading the way. But when we broke her, she didn’t seem to have much of a gait going slow. She’s sort of like a daisy cutter going slow, but when she’s in gear, she’s got a really nice gait.
“We trained her in Florida, and she was good all winter. She trained right down to the baby races really good.”
Bingo Night debuted with a win in a conditioned race at Mohawk before taking an ONSS Gold in 1:54.4 at the same oval. She finished third in her next outing, another ONSS Gold event, but rebounded with her back-to-back triumphs heading to the Peaceful Way, named in honor of the Hall of Fame female trotter bred by Ontario’s Angie Stiller (who also was among the horse’s ownership groups during her racing career).
“I’ve won the William Wellwood (in 2012 with Wheeling N Dealin),” Jones said, referring to the open stakes event for 2-year-old trotters, “but I’ve never won the Peaceful Way. It would really be an honor to win it because the Stiller family are such nice people.”
Jones, though, who stays busy with stables in Kentucky and Ontario, will be watching the race from afar.
“I’m going to watch it from (Lexington) on TV,” Jones said while offering kudos to Matt Fuller, who takes care of the Ontario stable in his absence. “I haven’t been there for her last two wins, and they did pretty good without me. So, I’m going to watch.”
One Belle, a daughter of Walner-Ms Savannah Belle, is the 9-5 morning-line favorite in the Peaceful Way. The filly is undefeated in three races for trainer Matt Bax and driver James MacDonald.
Saturday’s stakes-rich card at Mohawk also includes the $485,000 (CAD) Grade 1 William Wellwood Memorial, as well as divisions of the Nassagaweya and Eternal Camnation stakes for 2-year-old pacers (both Grade 3) and eliminations for the Canadian Pacing Derby.
Racing begins at 6:35 p.m. (EDT) at Woodbine Mohawk Park. For free past performances, visit the track’s website here.