Dayton, OH — DP Freedoms Chrome capitalized on a front-end trip to capture the $30,000 Open Handicap Trot on Wednesday night (Nov. 4) at Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway, giving driver Jeremy Smith one of his four victories on the card.
Hilltop Sonar (Chris Page) left alertly but was quickly rebuffed by the rail-sitting Bargain (Luke Hanners). Instead of taking a spot along the rail, DP Freedoms Chrome marched to the top and passed the opening quarter in :27.2 over the sloppy surface.
The 5-year-old For You Almostfree stallion enjoyed a :30 second-quarter breather, with the only pressure coming from a first-up effort by Woman Of Passion (David Miller).
Smith gave DP Freedoms Chrome his cue and, thanks to a :27.3 third quarter, he opened up some daylight on his foes and tripped the timer in 1:54.2.
Bargain narrowly edged Reggianito (Hugh Beatty Jr.) for second in a five-way photo finish.
A model of consistency, DP Freedoms Chrome won for the 35th time in 71 career efforts, banking nearly $490,000.
The Iowa-bred is trained by Wayne Oke for Aimes Racing.
Earlier in the night, Smith picked up a pair of wins using first-up efforts with Mehelpingyou (1:54.2) and the maiden-breaking Pictures Of Lily (1:57).
In the $13,000 conditioned claiming pace, Smith had She’s As Well winging it on the front end and cruised to a 7-3/4-length win in 1:53.4.
Thanks to his grand slam, Smith vaults to the top of the Dayton Raceway driving standings with 48 wins, one ahead of Luke Hanners. Chris Page is third with 44 victories.
Racing at Dayton Raceway continues on Thursday (Nov. 5) with a 14-race card. First post is 4 p.m. (EST).