Co-feature $18,000 Opens held at Northfield Park

Northfield, OH — Entering Sunday night, Joggingtothebank (Break The Bank K), had already had an impressive season with over $100,000 in earnings; he continued to shine bright on Sunday (December 17) evening, jogging to his fourth harness racing win in five starts in the $18,000 Open Trot at MGM Northfield Park.

Up Helly AA (Aaron Merriman) and Joggingtothebank (Elliott Deaton) timed the gate perfectly and dueled into the opening turn. Mid-way around the turn, Joggingtothebank worked his way to the front, with Deaton trying to ration out the speed at the quarter in :27.4.

Facing no challengers at the half in :57.3, Deaton continued getting things his way up top. Into the clubhouse turn the final time, Texsong Soprano (Hunter Myers) was sent to the outside, with Winning Shadow (Chris Lems) on his back second over.

Joggingtothebank, still facing no pressure, got to three-quarters in an uncontested 1:26.1, turning for home, Up Helly AA bounded out of the pocket off the perfect trip for Merriman, but Joggingtothebank easily repelled that challenge and drew off in the stretch to win by 2-3/4 lengths in 1:55.3. Up Helly AA was a strong second, while Kandy Sweet (Billy Davis Jr.) was third.

JOGGINGTOTHEBANK REPLAY

Owned by Julie Ann & Dale A. Sweet of Akron, and trained by Matthew Burkholder, the homebred inched closer to the $500,000 mark, pushing his earnings to $477,584.

Makin Some Noise (Always B Miki) and driver Kurt Sugg had been knocking on the door a lot of late and finally put it all together to earn his tenth win of the season in the co-featured $18,000 Open Pace.

His path to victory wasn’t very easy, however, tasked with post seven, he was parked through the opening quarter with Lyons Beach (Kody Massey), Bettor Than Spring (Deaton), and Carolina Beach (Justin Irvine) stacking him up four-wide around the first turn.

At a very contested quarter of :26.4, Makin Some Noise pushed past Carolina Beach and cleared into the far turn. Sugg got a short breather in the second panel, getting to the half in :56.2, but the Rhoades contingent was not content with sitting any longer, with the pair of The Ideal Dancer A (Aaron Merriman) and Elliot Moose (Braiden Rhoades) began a bid for the lead from the back of the pack.

Makin Some Noise was heavily challenged to three-quarters in 1:24.2, with The Ideal Dancer A bearing down on him, with Elliot Moose game second over. Makin Some Noise put away The Ideal Dancer A turning for home. While it looked like Elliot Moose would make a race of it three-wide, no one was able to get to Makin Some Noise, who glided to a 1-1/2 length victory in 1:52.4. The Ideal Dancer A dug in to be second with Elliot Moose third.

MAKIN SOME NOISE REPLAY

Owned by Rebecca Sugg, the 5-year-old now has 23 lifetime wins with $347,785 in the bank.

Live racing resumes on Sunday (December 17) with a first post of 6:00 p.m.

MGM Northfield Park currently races on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. For more information on live racing and promotions, visit here.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Michael Carter, for Northfield Park