Grove City, OH — For Love of Children-Dayton, Gala of Hope Foundation, and With God’s Grace Mobile Food Pantry were the big winners at the inaugural Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association Charity Night at Hollywood Dayton Raceway.

Gala of Hope Foundation and representative Robin Robbins were the recipient of a $10,000 donation from the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association. Conrad photo.

Twenty charities participated in the event, each being paired with a horse. Each charity received a donation from the OHHA for participating, with the top three finishers receiving larger donations. First place received $10,000, second place received $5,000 and third place $2,500. All other finishers received $2,000 donations.

The first charity race had two $10,000 winners as King Klueber, the horse paired with For Love of Children-Dayton was scratched. The charity chose East Beach with Chris Page driving as its replacement.

Page and East Beach did not disappoint his two backers as he took the lead around the final turn and pulled away, winning for For Love of Children-Dayton and With God’s Grace Mobile Food Pantry. Rose Run Ulysses finished second for The Foodbank, Inc. with Butter Bay Hanover taking third for the Marine Corp Toys For Tots. The other charities represented in the race were Artemis Center, Dayton Warriors Softball Fund, Fisher/Nightingale Houses, Inc., 4 Paws for Ability, Ronald McDonald House of Dayton, and Shriners Children’s Ohio.

In the second charity race of the night, Ginger Tree Marty and Jason Beattie rallied down the stretch to win by three-quarters of a length for the Gala of Hope Foundation. My Hero Ron finished second for Honor Flight and Beyond Delight was third for the Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The other charities represented in the race were Dayton Unit NAACP, Hannah’s Treasure Chest, Miami Valley Down Syndrome Association, Ohio’s Hospice of Dayton, Pink Ribbon Girls, Shoes 4 The Shoeless, and United Rehabilitation Services.

A total of $71,000 was donated to the charities by the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association.