from Hollywood Dayton Raceway

Dayton, OH — Despite howling winds, at times reaching 30 miles per hour, as well as intermittent rain showers all day and night, the two Grand Circuit races at Hollywood Dayton Raceway on Friday night (Oct. 2) produced track records on both the trot and pace.

Native Ohioan and Hall of Fame driver David Miller was behind both winners, reminding the locals who watched him master his craft at nearby Lebanon Raceway and Scioto Downs before moving east to The Meadowlands to ply his trade why he was anointed with the nickname “Purple Jesus” before ever leaving the Buckeye state.

Il Sogno Dream, sent off at 14-1 odds, upset Shake It Cerry in the $135,750 Dayton Trotting Derby.

Il Sogno Dream upset favored Shake It Cerry (Yannick Gingras) in the $135,750 Dayton Trotting Derby, establishing a track record for 4-year-olds of 1:53.2.

In a post-race interview, Miller revealed that trainer Chris Beaver (also from Ohio) had told him the horse was in top form and “don’t be afraid to race him aggressively.”

Miller obliged with a first-over journey that resulted in racing over a half-mile side-by-side with odds-on favorite Shake It Cerry before pulling away in the final strides. Southwind Pepino (Hugh Beatty) garnered the show dough.

Il Sogno Dream‘s owners Bill and Dan Manes and Leonard and Randy Christopher benefited from Beaver and Miller’s confidence as they were rewarded with their horse’s 12th career win and one of his largest paydays.

Il Sogno Dream‘s trainer Chris Beaver said, “He raced good last week (in finishing sixth in the Centaur at Hoosier). He was caught in behind a horse that made a break and (driver Aaron Merriman) had to check him pretty good at the head of the lane and he came charging.

“The horse had been beat up and maybe started bleeding, we thought he was bleeding a bit, he just hadn’t raced good in about six weeks, but last week he was closing.”

On beating Shake It Cerry, Beaver added, “That’s great. We’d been hoping he’d show something like this. He’s staked to the Allerage next week at Lexington, he’ll be there. He was great in the Futurity last year, that was probably his best start of the year.”

Conrad photos

Favored State Treasurer did not disappoint in the $138,500 Dayton Pacing Derby, setting a new track record of 1:48.4.

Miller used a much different strategy in the $138,500 Dayton Pacing Derby, sending favored State Treasurer directly to the front and never looking back in an all-age track record 1:48.4 performance. Shamballa (Rick Zeron) raced gamely to finish second, with Let’s Drink On It (Travis Seekman) next across the line.

The winning 6-year-old son of Real Desire now has nine seasonal wins, including the Graduate Series final and the U.S. Pacing Championship in addition to the Dayton Derby. Sally and Paul MacDonald own the sport’s current top-rated older pacer and entrust his training to Dr. Ian Moore.

Commenting on the victory with State Treasurer, David Miller said, “The conditions weren’t good at all, it was cold and windy, and there was a pretty good headwind going up the backstretch, but he felt really sharp tonight.

“I didn’t really like where I was at early in the mile. I had to use him to get to the lead, but once he crossed over he felt really good. I grabbed him up going down the backstretch and then coming for home I never even pulled his plugs, I just let him pace.”

The pair of races enticed stellar fields of outstanding horses and many of the sport’s top reinsmen. The combined earnings of the nine horses in the Pacing Derby exceeded $13 million. The races showcased the winningest driver of all time (Dave Palone), fellow Hall of Famers John Campbell and David Miller, the top money earning driver this season (Yannick Gingras) and the leading dash driver the past two seasons (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.).

Hollywood Dayton Raceway would like to thank all the participants in the 2015 Derbies and compliment the exceptional job the track maintenance crew did to keep the racing surface in lightning fast shape despite trying day-long weather conditions.

— Allison Conte also contributed to this story