by John Manzi, publicity director, Monticello Raceway

Monticello, NY — A pair of Buckeye horses, one an Ohio-bred and the other owned in the Buckeye State, copped their respective $25,000 eliminations of the $530,000 Monticello-OTB Classic at the Mighty M on Tuesday, July 17.

Buckeye One, in rein to Tony Morgan, won his split is 1:52, which turned out to be a track record for older pacing geldings. The other division went to Mypanmar and driver David Miller in a 1:52.3 clocking.

After the two elimination divisions were completed the fact remains that the half-mile track is an equalizer. The speed horses on the single ovals, and other bigger racetracks, give a little to those pacers who have proven that they can negotiate the turns at high speed.

Case in point: the Ohio bred-Buckeye One, owned by Canadians Ian Fromowitz and John Fielding, came into the contest off a 1:51.1 victory at Yonkers Raceway and turned back some of the top pacers in the country; ones that have made their mark racing on bigger racetracks.

Western Ace, who owns a 1:48.4 record in his last start at the Meadowlands, chased Buckeye One home and finished second for driver Daniel Dube. The third place finisher, Mister Big (driven by David Miller), won the $650,000 William Haughton Pace in 1:48.2, also at The Big M. Maltese Artist (Brian Sears), who owns a 1:49.2 record taken at the Meadowlands, finished fourth in this event.

Granted, the most important thing that any of the pacers could accomplish in their elimination splits was to qualify for the $480,000 final, and as long as they were among the top four finishers they earned the right to come back next Tuesday in the rich finale.

In the second split, last year’s Pacer of the Year, Total Truth (Ron Pierce), didn’t make the cut after he went off-stride twice in the 1:52.3 mile that was won by My Panmar. Astronomical (Jody Jamieson), a 1:50 winner over Mohawk Racetrack’s seven-eighths-mile oval, also went off-stride in the mile and finished out of the money.

My Panmar, owned by the Peter Pan Stables of Pepper Pike, Ohio, arguably turned in his best performance this year when he finished three-quarters of a length ahead of Fox Valley Appeal, who was handled by Brian Sears. Longshot JK Big Shot took home the show dough for driver Daniel Dube and He Wants It All, driven by Tony Morgan, also qualified for the Monticello-OTB Classic Final with his fourth place finish.

As it stands, David Miller, Daniel Dube, Tony Morgan and Brian Sears each qualified a horse from each division and will have to choose which one they will drive in the final next Tuesday.