by Jim Whittemore, publicity director, Ocean Downs

Berlin, MD — On Sunday (August 5), driver Frank Milby, with his second five-win night this summer at Ocean Downs, regained the lead in the meet’s driver-title chase. The red-hot Milby, who won six on July 22, has now won 31 of his last 62 races at the Ocean and has 44 wins after the completion of 29 nights in the 40-day meet. Ray Robinson, Jr. had one win Sunday and trails Milby by two.

One of Milby’s five wins was with 5-year-old gelding Goodbye Daddy ($3.60), a horse he owns and drives.

“I had some health problems with him. He’d get sick all the time the last couple months. I’ve been working on him and tonight he was back to his old self,” Milby said about his horse, trained by his father Don. The gelding had two second-place finishes at the Ocean before Sunday’s win, but had struggled at Rosecroft since a May 28 win there, where Milby is the leading driver.

One of the two races that Milby finished out of the money in was when Brandon Givens was in the bike as 6-year-old mare Keystone Killarney tied a track record for older mares in an impressive 1:54.3 pace ($7.80).

Milby said of his friend Givens’ horse, “I didn’t think she’d hold on, but she never quit.”

Givens himself was impressed by the Shawn Armour-trained mare’s performance.

“I drove her a couple times now. First start, she was not as good as she was the next start. Tonight she was awesome.”

For trainer Armour, who had a training double, he leads all Ocean Oval trainers with 16 wins. Joseph Eisenhower, Sr. is second with 12 first-place finishes.

Mister Darcy N is a 10-year-old who began the summer meet with four straight wins for driver/trainer Wayne Long, but the gelding then won only once in his next six starts. The New York Motoring offspring reached the winner’s circle again on Sunday night and has five wins for the meet.

There are now only 11 days remaining in the 2007 summer meet. The second, third and title legs of two Late Closer Series will be run during the final three weeks of the 40-day meet.

The Hal Belote Memorial Trot Series is set for Wednesdays — August 8, 15 and 22. The first leg featured two divisions won by a pair of streaking horses. Whitesville Tara, last year’s Horse of the Meet, won the series opener on August 1 in a 2:00 trot. The Tagliabue 6-year-old mare, driven by W. David Hill III, and owned and trained by Gary White, has won six consecutive races after finishing sixth to open the meet on June 20.

The other first leg winner was 5-year-old RT Phoebes Giant, driven by Ray Robinson, Jr. and trained by Joyce Lineweaver. The RT Giant gelding has won three straight at the Ocean since July 8 after trotting at Harrington Raceway.

The Alan Myer Memorial Trotting Series will be run on Thursdays — August 9, 16 and 23. There were also two divisions to open the four-race series. Ben Joe’s Way, a 4-year-old gelding driven by Mark Gray and trained by Charles Leager II, coasted to an August 2 opening win and has won three of four starts during the current meet. Another 4-year-old, Moon City Special, trained and driven by Sam Belote, went wire-to-wire for his first win this year.

Ocean Downs is also hosting the 2007 Chesapeake Bay Racing Series (trotting and pacing), with the finals worth $25,000, set for Wednesday, August 15.

Racing at the Ocean oval is Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday with a 7:35 p.m. first post. Parking and admission are free. For more information, call (410) 641-0600.