Treacherous Penny outlasts the cavalry charge

Northfield, OH — Treacherous Penny (Captaintreacherous) returned to winning ways on Saturday (December 23) night with a gutsy harness racing victory in the $18,000 co-featured Filly and Mare distaff at MGM Northfield Park.

Aaron Merriman wasted no time putting the Treacherous Penny, a 3-year-old filly , on the lead, clearing inside rivals easily through the opening tur She led her foes into the backstretch, before being overtaken by Smothastenesewisky (Ryan Stahl) before a torrid opening quarter of :27.1

Into the far turn, Merriman guided Treacherous Penny to the outside and worked her way back to the front. She got to the half in an uncontested :56.4, and while the outer flow developed in the form of Alexa Skye (Billy Davis Jr.) and Think Of Galaxies (Chris Lems), neither posed a serious threat to the lead.

At three-quarters in 1:24.3, it appeared Treacherous Penny might be gone, but through the stretch, Alexa Skye and Smothastenesewisky found another gear and tried to overtake her. Treacherous Penny dug in through the stretch to win by a head in 1:54. Alexa Skye was second, with Smothastenesewisky and Rockabillycockshut (Luke Hanner) completing the top four.

TREACHEROUS PENNY REPLAY

Owned by Micki Rae Stables LLC and trainer Tim Twaddle, the talented filly added a ninth win to her resume, pushing her earnings to $179,546.

The 15-race action-packed program also hosted the $5,000, $15,000, and $25,000 Progressive Claiming Series Finals.

The series is always a popular hit with horsemen, but on Saturday  it was popular with racing fans, producing some of the best races of the night at MGM Northfield Park.

Sunshineinmypocket (Dali, Aaron Merriman) got hot at the right time, taking advantage of a contested early pace, scoring a victory late in the $15,000 claiming final for fillies and mares.

In a wild race from the beginning, stablemates St Lads Gidget (Luke Hanners) and Douwantobldasnoman (Greg Grismore) left alertly and dueled each other into the first turn. While St Lads Gidget came away with the lead, things got dicey for Grismore, who ended up parked through the opening quarter of :28.

Hanners was able to work out a breather, getting to the half in :57.4, as he began to brace for a challenge from race Royaltys Dreamer (Hunter Myers) and Sunshineinmypocket who began a first and second over bid for the lead.

Royaltys Dreamer got within a head of the lead, and appeared like she may go by at three-quarters in 1:26.1, but St Lads Gidget found more at the inside and put away her foe mid-way around the far turn. Who she couldn’t hold off was the fresh legs of Sunshineinmypocket who tipped three-wide and motored by late to win by two lengths in 1:55.4. St Lads Gidget hung on for second while favorite Mainline Charmer closed to be third.

SUNSHINEINMYPOCKET REPLAY

It was the 26th career victory for Sunshineinmypocket who Schillaci Stables, Sam Bova Racing, and Jennifer Kanieski own. She has now amassed $160,533 for trainer Jodi Schillaci.

Another favorite would go down in the $25,000 Progressive Claiming Series Final for filly and mare $25,000 claimers, as Ideal Destiny (Merriman) got nailed late down the stretch by Jillian B Miki (Always B Miki, Elliott Deaton) in 1:54.3.

JILLIAN B MIKI REPLAY

The final Progressive Claiming Series Final for filly and mare $5,000 claimers, saw another favorite be defeated as Carmen N The Devil (Well Said, Tyler Angus) won easily in gate to wire fashion in 1:55.4.

CARMEN N THE DEVIL REPLAY

Muscles For Life (Muscle Mass) proved, for the 48th time, he still has the “muscles for winning” as the 10-year-old gelding won the Great Lakes Amateur Driving Association’s (GLADA) Saturday night special.

Steve Oldford was, again, in the sulky to give his charge the trip he likes—on the front end—as this grand trotter has won more than half of his lifetime races going gate to wire since his first win up north of the border in 2015.

On this raw, 42 degree night on a sloppy racetrack, Oldford, the author of over 200 wins himself, left no doubt on strategy, as Muscles For Life pushed the starting gate out of his way, repelled a challenge with a “hot” :27.4 opener on the “cold” night and rated mid-race panels of :57.2 and 1:27.2 and, under slight urging, was three-parts-of-a-length the best at the wire in 1:57.2.

Brigitto, handled by Henry Beachy, closed fastest of all to be second while So Wishfull, leaving from the outside post and forced to be near the back of the pack throughout, rallied for third for Larry Ferrari.

At the outset, Muscles For Life was on the bit with Dontyousayit, driven by Mark Rocokvich, but the latter was caught five wide around the opening turn, and it took a bit of time to muster up his opening quarter-mile challenge to find the garden spot with Ursis Des Collins, driven by Jacob Baird next.

Positions remained that way past the third station when both Brigitto and So Wishfull took up the chase…but in vain.

MUSCLES FOR LIFE REPLAY

After the race, Oldford related, “He’s been with me a long time—going on five years—and he has that will to win and, when he draws well, he usually does well and, tonight, was no different. All the credit goes to “Muscles” as he’s the one that got me home first.

Trained by Allen Sisco for owner Jerrold Hawkes, Muscles For Life sent his yearly scorecard to 5-2-1 in a lightly raced 12 starts, good for $23,075 and $481,407 lifetime.

Off at even money on the tote board, Muscles For Life paid $4.20 to his many faithful.

Oldford continued, “he’s pushing two milestones now—50 wins and $500,000—and he sure has the heart to do it!”

Live racing resumes on Tuesday (December 26) at 6:00. For more information on live racing and promotions, visit www.northfieldpark.com.

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

by Michael Carter, for MGM Northfield Park