by Hollywood Dayton Raceway

Dayton, OH — Despite dueling through a very taxing :26.1 first quarter-mile, favorites American Girl (Trace Tetrick) and Aniston Seelster (Josh Sutton) finished one-two in 1:54 in the $15,000 Mares Open Pace at Hollywood Dayton Raceway on Friday night (Dec. 16).

Conrad Photo

American Girl cruises to the wire in 1:54 after a swift first quarter-mile in :26.1 for her 10th win of the season at Hollywood Dayton Raceway on Friday night.

Sutton, driving even money Aniston Seelster, who was last week’s feature race winner, left the gate with the petal to the metal in an attempt to seat Tetrick and American Girl behind his charge. But Tetrick had other ideas and forged forward with 2-1 American Girl until Sutton finally decided he had to relinquish the lead and accept the pocket trip just before the initial timer beam was tripped.

Following a :30.4 second quarter-mile breather, the leader sped through subsequent closing quarters of :28.4 and :28.1 to seal the deal, with a widening 1-1/2 victory at the finish.

It was the 10th 2016 triumph for American Girl, raising her seasonal bounty to $142,180 and her career bankroll to $729,968. Darla Gaskin and Stanley Rosenblatt own the ulta consistent 7-year-old daughter of Art’s Chip and entrust the conditioning to Tyler George, who is enjoying a banner meet at Hollywood Dayton with a .400-plus UTRS average

In fact, American Girl’s open class score produced a natural hat trick for both George and Tetrick as the trainer-driver duo had scored in the two previous races with pacer Sly Velocity and trotter Sheatrottin Kid. Tetrick added another victory earlier on the card with MG’s Summer Angel, giving him a grand slam overall.

With just two weeks remaining in Hollywood Dayton’s 75-night meet over $6 million in purses have already been doled out. Favorites have won 36.4 percent of the races with the number five post position the most advantageous, winning at an 18.6 percent clip.