Lebanon, OH — Naked On A Hill and Golden Magic won the Filly & Mare Open and Open II Paces, respectively, on Thursday night (April 9) at Miami Valley.
In the $36,000 Open I, No Foolin April was hustled out early for the lead while last week’s Open winner, Hey Hey Mama, pressed a stout :26.1 opening quarter. Hey Hey Mama eventually cleared for the lead just before the first pass of the tote board as No Foolin April settled for the pocket trip with Dragon By The Sea, Goo Goo Won, Naked On A Hill and Hungry Lizzo rounding out the order. As they neared the half, Hungry Lizzo got underway from last, hoping to flush cover, but found no early takers.
As Hey Hey Mama led them up the backside after a :54.3 half, Hungry Lizzo finally got that cover as Dragon By The Sea pulled from third and set on for the leader. As they passed three-quarters in 1:22.4, Dragon By The Sea had closed within a half length of Hey Hey Mama while No Fooling April was a pinned-in third with Hungry Lizzo second-over and Naked On A Hill moving into third-over position. They paced the final turn in that order, and when they swung into the stretch, Hey Hey Mama was under attack from all sides as Dragon By The Sea continued to close in, Hungry Lizzo slipped out three-wide, No Fooling April slid up the inside, and Naked On A Hill went four-wide creating a five filly battle for the win. Naked On A Hill was strongest of all, rallying to win by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:51. No Fooling April finished second with Hungry Lizzo going a big trip for third.
For Ron Burke trainee Naked On A Hill, it was her fifth win of the year and 26th of her career win, and it pushed her lifetime earnings to just over a half million dollars. For regular pilot Chris Page, it was one of four trips to the winner’s circle, which led all drivers on the Thursday card.
In the co-featured $32,000 Open II, Golden Magic put a four-race win streak on the line against Duration, who had a five-race win streak snapped in her last start, and the two fillies did not disappoint. Duration fired out from the rail to the early lead before Golden Magic, who left hard from post 5, clearing for the lead past a :27 opening quarter. Duration popped right back out to retake the lead, and she led the single-file field past the half in :56. The field remained in order to near the three-quarters, when Golden Magic popped out of the pocket and began her attack on Duration. After they passed three-quarters in 1:24.1, the two fillies locked horns and battled nose to nose around the final turn and through the stretch, with Golden Magic wearing down Duration to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:51.1. Dry Creek Princess rounded out the trifecta.
For Golden Magic, it was her fifth win in a row, ninth of the year, and 19th of her career, pushing her career earnings to just under $150,000.
Racing action returns to Miami Valley on Sunday (April 12) with a post time of 4 p.m.