Dayton, OH – Angel Nation and Oh Look Magic take the co-featured Open II and Open I trots at Dayton Raceway on Wednesday (Oct. 8) night, while driver Brett Miller racked up five wins.
Starting from post 4 in the Open II, Angel Nation, fresh off a claim for new trainer Antonia Storer, left the gate strong and motored to the front in :27.4. Magical Muscle Man left from the outside and couldn’t find a hole while parked out through fractions of :56.2 and 1:25. When that bid stalled, a 3-wide logjam appeared to the outside, stalling the outer flow and allowing Angel Nation and new pilot Jerermy Smith to open up and cruise home to a two-length victory in 1:53.3. The win was the 11th of the year for the 8-year-old son of Archangel and his fifth in his last seven starts. Pocket sitting KJ Alexander finished 2nd while Darbyshire rounded out the top three.
In the co-featured Open I, a short field of 5 battled it out for a purse of $28,000. Sent off as the 1/2 favorite, Oh Look Magic led the field through an opening quarter of :27.3. The order remained unchanged through the half and three-quarters fractions of :56 and 1:23.4. Once around the final turn, Chris Page and Oh Look Magic never looked back and trotted home in :28 flat to the tune of 1:51.4. The mile was just three ticks off the track record for aged geldings, which coincidentally, is held by the horse that chased him in from the pocket and finished 2nd, Hillexotic. Niko Man closed well and finished 3rd. The win was the seventh of the year and fifth in a row for the Burke trained 5-year-old, pushing his earnings to just shy of $170,000 and already eclipsing his season total from last year.
Driver Brett Miller had the hot hand tonight, finishing the day with five wins, winning with Easter Jack ($9.60), Californiastranger ($3.20), Better B My Way ($3.00), Absolute Euphoria ($5.00) and Little Bit Of Fran ($38.80). Chris Page finished with three winners on the card.
Racing resumes tomorrow night at 4 p.m.