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Thedayofthegrey, Niceasakittenseyes Win OTRF Stakes At Mahoning Valley

Jockey Sonny Leon piloted the 1-2 favorite Thedayofthegrey to an easy victory in the $75,000 Joshua Radosevich Memorial over a very sloppy track at Mahoning Valley in Youngstown, Ohio, on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 18, the first of two Ohio Thoroughbred Race Fund (OTRF) stakes.

The son of Twinspired-Sharon's Way, by Proud Citizen, romped to his fourth lifetime triumph against seven rivals in the six-furlong sprint for Accredited Ohio-bred freshmen. Thedayofthegrey is trained and co-owned by Robert C. Cline, along with co-owner Richard M. Wilkinson, who bred the gelding, and upped his career earnings to $175,500 with this latest win.

This outstanding youngster finished four lengths ahead of 10-1 Relish the Ride (Luis Rivera), with 5-1 Out for Fun (Christian Pilares) third, and 22-1 Powerful Phil (Alex Gonzalez) fourth. The winner was clocked in a modest 1:13.54.

Niceasakittenseyes, an 80-1 longshot, surprised everyone with a late stretch rally that saw her capture the $75,000 Bobby Bricker Memorial Handicap, a one-mile and 70-yard contest for Ohio Accredited fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up. This 3-year-old daughter by William's Kitten-Shestwiceasnice, by Parents' Reward, is trained by Craig Sweeting for owner Melissa Edgington and picked up her first stakes victory with jockey Fernando Salazar Becerra in the irons.

Niceasakittenseyes was clocked in 1:45.93, finishing a length in front of 9-2 Mobil Lady (Sonny Leon), with 7-1 Edge Of Night (Christian Pilares) third, and 9-5 favorite Star Rules (Jose Sanchez) fourth. The winner notched her third career win in 15 starts with the Bricker triumph and upper her career bankroll to $104,598.

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Forewarned Victorious In Best of Ohio Endurance At Mahoning Valley

Forewarned captured the finale, the $100,000 Best of Ohio Endurance, against 11 Ohio-registered 3-year-olds and up rivals at Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley in Youngstown, Ohio, stopping the clock in the one and one quarter mile contest in 2:06.73 with Sonny Leon riding.

Owned by the Trin-Brook Stables, the 6-year-old son of Flat Out-Fortune Play, by Five Star Day picked up career victory number nine in 42 starts. Forewarned also has seven seconds and four thirds from 43 lifetime starts and now has $687,633 in his bankroll for trainer Uriah St. Lewis. The 9-5 favorite was bred by Preston Stables.

“He broke a little slow today but I rushed him up and was able to get a good position and with the muddy trip, even though I had to use all my goggles, he got in a good spot to win the race,” said winning rider Sonny Leon.

“This horse has run in Grade 1 and Grade 3 all over the place and comes back here and gets right back to business,” said winning trainer Uriah St. Lewis.

The hard-trying Wicked Warrior was second for Ricardo Feliciano at 4-5 odds, with 50-1 longshot To Win (Angel Diaz) getting up for third.

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Thedayofthegrey, Pacific Coast Win Ohio Thoroughbred Race Fund Stakes Races At Thistledown

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.

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Mahoning Valley Closes Season on a High

The 2020-21 racing season at Hollywood Gaming Mahoning Valley Race Course came to a record-setting close last Saturday. The 2020-2021 season concluded with an average handle per race of $121,770, a 4.43% increase in average handle per race over the 2019-2020 racing season. During the 2021 Winter/Spring meet portion of the racing season, average handle per race came in at $131,411 with the wagering highlight coming Mar. 29.

In a mandatory payout of the Buckeye Jackpot Pick 6, which had grown to $343,876, the single day handle record was shattered by over $1 million. The new record is $3,095,044. The 2021 meet also saw the introduction of the 15% takeout Pick 5, with an average pool size of nearly $30,000.

Jeffery Radosevich took his 11th training title with 2021's Winter/Spring meet, winning with four of his final five starts giving him 23 wins in the meet.

Taking his second Mahoning title, Sonny Leon claimed the 2021 Winter/Spring leading jockey championship with 74 wins, 17 ahead of the runner up. Earlier this year he made trip number 500 to the winners circle and his mounts have surpassed $9 million in earnings.

Last fall, Mahoning Valley hosted the Best of Ohio stakes on Oct. 31, five restricted Ohio Bred stakes valued at $500,000. Forewarned, for trainer Uriah St. Lewis and owner Trin-Brook Stables, Inc, successfully returned to defend his title in the mile and a quarter Best of Ohio Endurance S. Just over a week after the Best of Ohio Stakes Nov. 10, Mahoning was shutdown due to the pandemic, losing seven live racing days. Despite the setbacks, Mahoning returned Nov. 23 in time to host the sixth running of the Steel Valley Sprint, won by Vertical Threat.

Racing will return at Mahoning Valley Friday, Oct. 22.

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