Lebanon, OH — Colorful Sky (Sam Widger) copped her first Open Mares event in quite some time, upsetting Sandy Sue (Chris Page) and heavily favored Golden Paradise (Trace Tetrick) at odds of 7-1 on Friday night (Jan. 31) at Miami Valley Raceway.

When the wire was reached in 1:53.4, Colorful Sky had a diminishing lead over Sandy Sue and Golden Paradise. Conrad photo.

Four of the seven top level mares gunned out of the gate with Elysium Seelster (Josh Sutton) gaining command as they sorted things out around the first turn. Widger squeezed Colorful Sky into the two-hole with Knockout Queen (Brett Miller) and Sandy Sue falling in next in line. Following a :26.4 first quarter clocking, the tempo slowed to :55.4 at the half without much change.

Knockout Queen was the first to challenge and was lapped on Elysium Seelster at the 1:24.2 third station, but the demanding pace over the ‘good’ track took its toll on the front-steppers, who began to falter at the head of the stretch. That gave Colorful Sky an opportunity to squeeze back out of the pocket and lead the charge of distaffers moving quickly from the back of the pack.

When the wire was reached in 1:53.4, Colorful Sky had a diminishing lead over Sandy Sue and Golden Paradise. It was the 35th career tally for the 8-year-old winner and boosted her lifetime earnings over $300,000. She is owned by Wilfong Racing and trained by Peter Redder, who has now reached the winner’s circle 10 times in 2020.

Miami Valley will present another strong Saturday night program beginning at 6:05 p.m., then take Sunday off in deference to the Super Bowl.