from Miami Valley Raceway

Dayton, OH —– Honey B, one of three mares who made it to the championship final of the Ray Paver Sr. Memorial Trotting Series, pulled a mild upset in the $20,000 event on Monday (April 4) at Miami Valley Raceway.

Following two preliminary legs when the 4-year-old Victory Sam mare tried to go gate-to-wire, only to get collared in the final strides and finish second, driver Kyle Ater chose to accept a pocket ride in the final despite drawing the coveted rail post position.

Conrad photo

Honey B captured the $20,000 final of the Ray Paver Sr. Memorial Trotting Series at Miami Valley on Monday afternoon.

When the 3-year-old Chips So Fast (Chris Page) left alertly from an outside post position, Ater made the decision to sit chilly in the two-hole and try to turn the tables on the colt that beat her from the pocket last week. ‘Plan B’ worked to perfection when Chips So Fast tired just enough to cause him to drift slightly in the lane, allowing Honey B to shoot through on the inside and defeat him by just a head at the finish. Hooray For Willie (Ken Holliday) was just one length behind to garner the show dough.

Honey B, who has banked more than $150,000, largely on the strength of a half dozen Ohio juvenile stakes victories, is owned by Jim Burnett and Tim Homan and is trained by Kyle’s father, Dan Ater, who was recently inducted into the Ohio Hall of Fame.

A pair of second leg divisions of the George “Red” Owens Memorial Pacing Series for non-winners of two races or $15,000 lifetime (fillies and mares) were also contested on the Monday matinee.

Prohibitive favorite Asadvertised did not disappoint in capturing the first split by 2-1/4 lengths in 1:56.4, returning $2.20 to win. Jeremy Smith guided the Real Desire filly for owner Brenda Pfeifer and trainer Dustin Pfeifer. Alwayssmoothraigin (Randy Crisler) was next best and qualified for the $15,000 final next week with a second place finish, while Aunt Babe (Hunter Myers) also advanced by grabbing the show spot.

Awesum World parlayed a first-up on the outside trip into a 1:56 triumph for leading driver Josh Sutton, topping ER Lila (Jeremy Smith) and Southern Bess (Ron Taubert). Greg Henderson conditions the 4-year-old daughter of World Of Rocknroll for the Illinois partnership of David Falzone, Christopher Mroz and Steven Searle.

With the series victory, Josh Sutton became the first Miami Valley driver to surpass the $1 million mark in purse earnings during the 2016 meet, with 64 of the scheduled 88 dates completed.