from harness publicists across North America

The Saturday (Oct. 28) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Hollywood Dayton Raceway, Saratoga Casino Hotel, The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Vernon Downs and Batavia Downs.

Trevor Smith and Dont Say Goodby get first ‘Open’ win at Dayton

Dayton, OH — Both horse and driver earned their first open class victories Saturday night (Oct. 28) at Hollywood Dayton Raceway when Dont Say Goodby scored an upset victory for driver Trevor Smith. The 35-1 winner swept from sixth at the head of the stretch to edge 3-1 Secret Threat (Josh Sutton) in the final stride while fellow 30-1 longshot Dalhousie Dave (Shawn Barker II) survived a parked out trip to garner the show dough.

Holton photo

Dont Say Goodby and provisional driver Trevor Smith each get their first open class wins at Hollywood Dayton Raceway, just edging Secret Threat in 1:52.

No winning 20-cent High 5 tickets were sold resulting in a $1,080 carryover into the seventh race wager on the next program, a Monday afternoon matinee.

Smith, the younger brother of Tyler, is still classified as a provisional driver, but the 21-year-old son of trainer Jeff Smith is likely to advance to his ‘A’ license soon. Dont Say Goodby’s 1:52 triumph in the $18,500 feature race was Trevor’s ninth win of the Dayton meet and his 27th on-the-board finish in 93 drives.

Charlie Stewart trains the winner for owner Derek Menchhofer. The 9-year-old Dontgetinmyway gelding surpassed the $300,000 career earnings plateau with the unexpected score.

Driver Dan Noble captured five of the first nine races on the program to solidify his second place slot behind Josh Sutton in the current local driver’s dash derby. The 34-year-old former national dash champion scored with Herlin (1:53, $6.00 mutuel), Sand Summerfield (1:52.4, $9.00), Dreamfair Mesa (1:52.1, $3.40), Pumped Up Kicks (1:53, $5.20) and Communicator (1:52, $40.40).

— Hollywood Dayton Raceway

Saratoga
Carolina Beach (Somebeachsomewhere) scored in the final of the fourth annual Gary Kamal Memorial Pacing Series on Saturday night at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The Melissa Beckwith-trained 3-year-old made his first start in over a year during the last week of September. Carolina Beach recorded his first win of ’17 when competing in the first leg of the Kamal Series as he went coast to coast with Mark Beckwith in the sulky. In last week’s second leg, the sophomore pacer set a new lifetime mark, prevailing in 1:53.1 while wiring the field. In Saturday’s $36,000 final, it was back to the front end for Carolina Beach who set first half fractions of :27.1 and :56.3. After cruising through three quarters in 1:24.2, Carolina Beach appeared to be coming back to his rivals a bit. While his lead did shrink in the stretch, he was plenty game and proved best, stopping the timer in 1:53.1 to match his lifetime mark and complete the series sweep. Goose Mountain (Dan Cappello Jr.) was late on the scene and wound up second best while Beyombo (Frank Coppola Jr.) earned the show spot. Carolina Beach, who paid $3.50 to win as the race’s odds-on favorite, added his name to the list of previous winners of the Kamal Memorial Pace which is comprised of Twin B Spy, Bell I No and Stirling Electra. Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga with a matinee that kicks off at 12:15 p.m.

Pocono
Andreios Kardia laid off of a wicked front-end duel, then came from seventh at the stretch call to take the $20,500 featured pace Saturday at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono in 1:50. Jim Marohn Jr. had the Badlands Hanover gelding near the back of the field as Parnu Hanover shot out to the lead, then refused to yield to the favorite Allstar Partner through searing fractions of :26, :53.4, and 1:20.4. Andreios Kardia closed rapidly off those wild numbers, getting to the wire a neck ahead of the remarkably-resilient Parnu Hanover, with Ginger Tree Cash just edged for the deuce and settling for third. Andreios Kardia earned his second victory in three Pocono starts since coming in from the Vernon/Tioga wheel. Tony Dinges conditions the winner of $265,777, a 27 percent winner’s circle visitor careerwise, for owner Ina Madill.

Vernon Downs
Sweet Ashley T (Homer Hochstetler) won the $9,000 Vernon Downs featured trot on Saturday night. Sweet Ashley T (Conway Hall) put up all the fractions, :28.3, :57.3, 1:26.1, and 1:55.1. Owned by South Of The Tracks Racing Inc. and trainer Hochstetler, the 4-year-old mare held off a late spurt by runner-up Painite (Truman Gale) and third place finisher Lucid Thoughts (John MacDonald). Sweet Ashley T ($8.70) would get her fifth win of the year and nail down her 10th career victory. Arsenic (Chris Lems) won the $7,500 pace. Cam’s Lucky Sam (Leon Baily) battled Golden Gun (Bret Crawford) all the way through three-quarters. Arsenic (Bettor’s Delight), who is owned by Scott Dillion and trained by Heidi Rohr, took advantage of the speed duel and flew right by to win by a length in 1:51.2. Cam’s Lucky Sam took second while Golden Gun settled for third. Arsenic ($8.90) won for the fourth time this season. The 4-year-old gelding got career win number 11. Jimmy Whittemore won three on the night. He got his victories with Western Toro ($3.10), Ameriman ($8.40) and Bosshoss Hanover ($3.00). Vernon Downs will close out live racing for the 2017 season next weekend. Post time for Friday (Nov. 3) is 6:45 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 4) is closing night and will have a special post time of 6 p.m. Free long sleeve t-shirt giveaway on closing night while the supply lasts. For more information go to www.vernondowns.com.

Batavia
Abandoning his usual front running style, In Runaway Bay went from worst to first to capture the $10,000 Open Handicap Pace at Batavia Downs on Saturday night. Show Stopping (John Cummings Jr.) was the horse that wanted the front and he got it after some effort in :27.4. When he cleared, Cummings was able to get a second panel breather before an outer flow developed. Miss Irish Rose A (Larry Stalbaum) came first up with Rock Fame (Ron Beback Jr.) and In Runaway Bay (Kevin Cummings) right behind. When the race hit three-quarters in 1:25.2 In Runaway Bay found himself three-deep with a full head of steam. The race turned for home with In Runaway Bay running away from the competition down the stretch and eventually winning by two lengths in 1:54.1. Now boasting $36,060 in winnings on the strength of seven wins this year, In Runaway Bay ($17.60) has been stellar for owner Super Mile LLC and trainer Angelo Nappo. Drew Monti and Ray Fisher Jr. each had three driving wins during the night while Billy Davis Jr. and Larry Stalbaum both had two. Racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m.