A pair of $100,000 Ohio Thoroughbred Race Fund Stakes (OTRF) were contested early on the JACK Thistledown program on Saturday, August 14 at JACK Thistledown in North Randall, Ohio.
Both events were for Ohio-registered 2-year-olds at six furlongs, with the first being the Best of Ohio Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes that featured a field of nine colts and geldings, while the second was the Best of Ohio Miss Ohio Stakes that saw six fillies vie.
Thedayofthegrey left no doubt he was much the best in the Cleveland Kindergarten, using a front-stepping effort to score in 1:12.06 under the handling of rider Sonny Leon. Bred by trainer Robert Cline, the grey son of Twinspired-Sharon's Way, by Proud Citizen left the gate at 9-1 odds and returned $20 on a two-dollar ticket to his backers. Thedayofthgrey bested 6-5 rival Tantrum (Malcolm Franklin) by nearly two lengths, with 20-1 Rumble Strip Ron (Scott Spieth) third and 6-5 Condemnation (Luan Machado) fourth.
Thedayofthegrey had only two previous starts under his belt coming into the Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes, and after winning his maiden effort on Jun 1 at Thistledown, was third in the $75,000 Hoover Stakes on July 23 at Belterra Park in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“He stumbled in the Hoover and kind of lost his footing,” explained Cline, who owns the youngster in partnership with Richard Wilkinson. “He broke well today, however, and he's an accredited-bred, so that shows what a nice colt he is.”
Thedayofthegrey, a striking deep grey gelding who dons a white hood with can't-see-back blinkers over a white bridle, now has $85,500 in career earnings as a result of today's triumph.
Pacific Coast gave an impressive showing of herself in the 53rd running of the Best of Ohio Miss Ohio Stakes, flying under the wire in 1:11.88 for rider Jose Bracho.
“Tim gave me the opportunity to ride this filly and I'm grateful for that,” Bracho said. “At the start, we got into a little bit of trouble, but once we got in the clear, by the three-eights, she just did it all by herself.”
The well-built, dark chestnut filly with the tiny star and beautifully braided mane, walked into the Thistledown winner's circle like an old campaigner for trainer Tim Hamm and owners-breeders WinStar Farm and Blazing Meadows Farm. Pacific Coast is by Exaggerator, out of the Indian Ocean mare Ocean Princess.
“Our operation started in 1992 or 1993,” Hamm stated. “We came out and watched the Best Of Ohio races at Thistledown and decided that was the way to go. We started breeding our own and our first crop was in 1995. We get our horses ready in Florida, and our partnership with WinStar has really boosted our program.”
Pacific Coast, who broke from the gate as the 6-1 choice, won by open lengths over 5-2 rival Candlelight Hours (Malcolm Franklin) with 4-1 Flatter Her Again (John McKee) third and 5-1 Squid (Luis Rivera) fourth. Pacific Coast now has $78,900 in her career coffers.
The post Thedayofthegrey, Pacific Coast Win Ohio Thoroughbred Race Fund Stakes Races At Thistledown appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
