Dayton, OH – Charge Me Up received a confident drive from Luke Hanners going gate-to-wire to capture the $20,000 featured conditioned claiming pace Friday evening (Nov. 13) at Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway.
Starting from post 9, Charge Me Up left alertly and seized control before the quarter. Hanners dictated the pace through fractions of :27, :56.1, and 1:24.3.
As the field turned for home, even-money favorite Ss Druidstone (driven by Trevor Smith) ducked into the passing lane but came up a half-length short in 1:52.4.
Sky Dog (Marvin Luna) finished third and Boomerang (Chris Page) was fourth.
A 4-year-old son of Heston Blue Chip, Charge Me Up is trained by Virgil Morgan Jr. for owners David Hamm and Glenn Phillips.
Charge Me Up won for the 10th time during his career and returned $29.20 to win.
In the $15,500 condition claiming pace, Ati Kiss My Hocks (Kayne Kauffman) overcame post 10 and nipped the pacesetting Housethatsantablt (Tyler Smith) at the wire by a neck. Joshua Rowe trains Ati Kiss My Hocks, a 4-year-old gelded son of Racing Hill, for owner Matt Rowe. The winning time of 1:52.4 was a new lifetime mark.
A 14-race card will wrap up the Dayton Raceway week Saturday at 4 p.m. (EST).