Ft. Washington, MD — So far in the Winter-Spring meet at Rosecroft, the depth of the top Open level has been awesome. Full fields and multiple winners at the $17,500 level have made this as competitive a group the track has seen in a while.

Island Of The Sea, piloted by Jason Thompson, has put together two straight sensational miles, discarding his foes easily Thursday night (March 9) in 1:49.1.

Thompson left hard and stretched out the 2-1 second choice Stag Party who left from post eight and briefly held the lead as the pacers passed the half-mile mark. At that point, Island Of The Sea moved back to the lead and hit another gear, sprinting away from a good field.

Eric Ell trains the 6-year-old son of Always A Virgin for his wife Lisa. It was the pacer’s 26th win in 92 career starts.

Russell Foster won four times on the card, including the $15,000 Open, as Transparency won in 1:53.1 for Tom Cooke and trainer Roger Hans. It was the second win of the year and career win number 19 for the homebred son of Artspeak.

Eric Davis, Thompson and Jonathan Roberts each drove two winners.