by Gregg Keidel

Dayton, OH — Penn dominated the $12,000 Open Trot at Hollywood Dayton Raceway on Saturday (December 12), speeding to the quickest trotting mile in the two-year history of the five-eighths mile oval. With his 1:52.3 clocking, Penn shaved a tick off Market Share’s previous standard of 1:52.4 taken in the 2014 Dayton Trotting Derby.

Conrad photo

Penn established a new track trot record at Hollywood Dayton on Saturday night for driver Josh Sutton.

Driver Josh Sutton set sail when the wings of the gate folded, clearing to the front just before reaching the first quarter station in :26.1. The 5-year-old son of Master Glide, who had made a miscue in last week’s feature, had no such problems on this warm evening. Penn coasted through subsequent fractions of :55 and 1:23.1 before arriving in-hand at the wire in 1:52.3. Chips (Trace Tetrick) made a mild bid in the stretch to finish second with Martz Time (Chris Page), who was last week’s winner, finding room late to rally for third.

Barkley Counts of Tennessee owns Penn, who now has 27 career wins and $205,794 in earnings from just 62 lifetime starts. Bobby Brower conditions the new Dayton Raceway track record holder.

Three races later Sports Sinner returned to the winner’s circle after winning the $12,000 Open Pace in 1:51. The 4-year-old Western Ideal gelding has now captured the week’s top race three of the last four tries for driver Dan Noble, trainer Christi Pokornowski and owner Perkins Racing Stable LLC. It was the ninth seasonal triumph for the late-blooming winner and pushed his career bankroll over the $100,000 plateau.

Fancy Creek Elusiv (Chris Page) raced gallantly to finish a lapped-on second, while PQ Three (Jeremy Smith) made a furious stretch charge from far back to garner the show money.

Racing will be conducted six consecutive nights next week as Hollywood Dayton begins winding down towards closing night on December 30.

Excitement is building for the Tuesday night program, which features the “Buckeyes vs. Hoosiers Driver’s Challenge.” Five of Hoosier Park’s top reinsmen will battle with Dayton’s top five in the current dash standings over six races for borderline bragging rights. The two tracks, despite being in separate states, are only a little over an hours drive apart.

The Buckeye team has 13,918 combined wins and earned $72,825,298 in their careers. The Hoosiers have 8,262 total victories good for $73,298,825 in earnings. The Ohio squad is comprised of Kayne Kauffman, Josh Sutton, Chris Page, Dan Noble and Jeremy Smith; while Indiana will be represented by Trace Tetrick, Tyler Smith, LeWayne Miller, Ross Leonard and Andy Shetler.

Post time every night is 6:35 p.m.