Dayton, OH – Anna Love N etched her name into the Hollywood Gaming Dayton Raceway record book on Thursday evening (Nov. 5), rallying in deep stretch to capture the $30,000 Fillies & Mares Open Handicap Pace and establish a new track record for older pacing mares with a dazzling 1:48.3 mile.
Driven by Marvin Luna and trained by Tyler George, the daughter of Terror To Love was content to sit second behind 15-1 longshot Beautiful Seaside (driven by Trevor Smith) through sizzling fractions of :26.2, :54 and 1:20.2. Beautiful Seaside continued to show the way turning for home, but Anna Love N angled out of the pocket and surged late, getting up in the final strides for a neck victory.
Shadows Dancers closed well from mid-pack to finish third, 5-1/4 lengths behind the top pair.
Racing for owner Martin Valentic, the 8-year-old New Zealand-bred now has 31 career wins and nearly $375,000 in earnings.
The time eclipsed the previous track mark of 1:48.4 set by Twin B Joe Fresh last fall.
Driver Luke Hanners had the hot hands early in the card. The 26-year-old reinsman won three of the first six races of the night – all with Virgil Morgan Jr. trainees.
Brett Miller also picked up a hat trick, winning three of the final four races on the 14-race card.