from Hollywood Dayton Raceway

Dayton, OH — A large and enthusiastic throng turned out Friday night (Sept. 29) for a pair of Grand Circuit stakes at Hollywood Dayton Raceway.

Pasithea Face S, one of just two mares in the eight-horse Dayton Trotting Derby ($167,000), showed her heels to the field in 1:53, a new track record for trotting mares at the four-year-old five-eighths mile oval.

Pasithea Face S sets a new track record of 1:53 in the Dayton Trotting Derby.

Driver Tim Tetrick hustled the daughter of Muscle Hill from the gate, leading pocketsitter JL Cruze (David Miller) and parked out Hannelore Hanover (Matt Kakaley) to the quarter in :27. Hannelore Hanover, the lukewarm favorite and the other female in the contest, inched past JL Cruze while still on the rim at the half in :54.4.

The tempo slackened in the third panel due to strong headwinds down the backstretch, but Pasithea Face S continued to front the classy trotters in 1:24.2.

Tetrick, who explained “I thought it was her race to win if I could get the lead. I put her in a bad spot two weeks ago in the Maple Leaf Trot, but I knew she’d be good if I got her a clean trip tonight,” urged the winner through a :28.3 closing quarter-mile to seal the deal.

Pasithea Face S, as the third choice at the windows, returned $9 to her backers. Combined with eventual runnerup Crazy Wow (Chris Page) the exacta yielded a $138.20 payoff; while the trifecta with show finisher JL Cruze paid $571.

It was the 12th career win for the lightly raced 5-year-old and pushed her lifetime bounty past $560,000. Trotting guru Jimmy Takter trains the Derby champion for Courant Inc. of Delray Beach, Fla.

Rockin Ron became the sport’s newest millionaire when he brushed home a 1:50.2 winner in the $140,000 Dayton Pacing Derby. Driver Matt Kakaley was content to sit near the back of the nine-horse pack for the first five-eighths of the mile, before taking up fourth-over position down the backside and angling to the outside coming out of the final turn and exploding in the stretch.

USTA/Mark Hall photos

Rockin Ron wins the Dayton Pacing Derby to become the sport’s newest millionaire.

Luck Be Withyou (Brett Miller) left alertly from the innermost post position to cut early fractions of :26.3 and :54.4 while Easy Lover Hanover (Doug McNair) enjoyed a pocket ride with longshot Boston Red Rocks (Josh Sutton) racing gamely on the outside. Boston Red Rocks actually nudged ahead by a neck at the 1:21.4 third-quarter clocking, just before the cavalry charge from the rear commenced.

When Boston Red Rocks began to tire, second-over Dealt A Winner (Aaron Merriman) took his best shot, which resulted in a second place finish. Third-over Missile J (Tim Tetrick) also finished strongly to garner the show dough after Rockin Ron swept past both of them during the :28.3 closing panel. Punters who picked Rockin Ron got a nice $12.60 kickback, while the exacta returned $55 and a $2 trifecta was worth $332.

The 5-year-old son of Real Desire now owns 27 victories and the winner’s share of the purse sent his earnings skyrocketing to $1,056,107. Ron Burke trains Rockin Ron for Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi and the RTC Stable.