Dayton, OH – The favorites had a tough go if it in the pair of $18,000 condition claiming paces, providing minor upsets in Friday (Oct. 17) action at Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway.
Tennessee Smooth (Brett Miller) survived a three-horse photo finish to take the second of two featured events.
When the field of nine was sent on their way, Gotta Go Gram (Jeremy Smith), Bet On Sunshine (Chris Page) and Tennessee Smooth were stacked three-deep in the first turn.
Gotta Go Gram stuck a head in front past the opening quarter in :26.4, parking Bet On Sunshine.
Page was forced to go forward with the bettor’s choice and led his eight competitors past the middle panels of :55 and 1:23.1.
As they turned for home, Bet On Sunshine had pressure from the outside in Gotta Go Gram and Tennessee Smooth went into the passing lane from the three-hole.
Tennessee Smooth got up in the final strides to score the head win over the outside Gotta Go Gram. Bet On Sunshine was just a half-length back in third.
The five-year-old gelded son of Well Said is owned by the Rushcreek Stable and trained by Zach Mogan.
He now has 21 career wins.
The first division had Theheavyweightway go gate-to-wire in 1:51.2.
Driven by Trevor Smith, the four-year-old gelded son of Nob Hill High was on the point after a brief scuffle when the gates wings opened.
Chris Page aborted his effort to leave with Twenty Five and took the garden spot through the opening panels in :27.2 and :56.
Wirelesscaller (Jeremy Smith) made a charge on the outside before the three-quarters in 1:24, but quickly faded leaving the top two with clear sailing.
Theheavyweightway used a final quarter of :27.3 to shut down any chance from the bettor’s choice, Twenty Five.
The final margin was 1 ½ lengths. Sinatra Hanover (Luke Hanners) was another two lengths back in third.
Theheavyweightway is trained by AJ Carlo who also co-owns with breeder C2G Stables.
The Smith brothers – Trevor and Tyler – each had four driving wins on the 14-race card.
Dayton Raceway finishes its racing week tomorrow night (Oct. 18) with a first post is at 4:00 p.m.