by Conor Golden, Little Brown Jug Publicity Intern

Delaware, OH — Taking the lead from a three-wide position at the three-quarter pole, it was Diamondkeeper (Matt Kakaley) who swept past the field of seven in the first division of the $59,234 Ohio Breeders Championship for 3-year-old colt pacers on Thursday (Sept. 18) at the Delaware County Fair.

Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Frank Baldachino and Larry Karr own the Pine Valley colt. With this win, the brown gelding — trained by Ron Burke — has now finished in the top three in four of his last six starts.

Starting from post position seven, Diamondkeeper started in the back of the field before gaining ground past the halfway mark in :57. As the field went past the three-quarter point in 1:26.1, Kakaley sent the eventual winner past the field and cruised to a six length victory in 1:55. Hawks Cry Hoboken (Brett Miller) and UF Fast Feelin (Dan Noble) finished second and third, respectively.

Meanwhile in the $29,617 second division, Feel The Heat (Josh Sutton) walked away with a 4-1/4 length victory in a lifetime best 1:52.4. The Feelin Friskie brown gelding is owned by Perkins Racing Stable LLC and is trained by Virgil Morgan Jr.

Although it looked as if there was pressure coming from Big Bossman (David Miller), Feel The Heat managed to hold the lead for the majority of the race. Big Bossman and Dibs (Matt Kakaley) finished second and third, respectively.

Crown Time Keeper (Chris Page) and A P P Panda (David Miller) took the two splits of the $56,084 OBC for 3-year-old filly pacers.