Angel Nation gives Smith narrow edge in driver race

Drivers Jeremy Smith and Chris Page have been battling for the leading driver’s position during the first month of the Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway meet. The two hooked up again in Wednesday night’s (Oct. 15) $22,000 featured trot.

Smith had the heavy betting favorite, Angel Nation on top before the opening quarter mile station and was able to control the fractions of :28.1, :57.2 and 1:26.

Page eased Fiftyfour K off the gate and they found themselves towards the back of the field of eight during the first portion of the mile.

Fiftyfour K was given some racetrack and came first up at the have and was within 1 1/4 lengths at the three-quarter mark.

Angel Nation used a :28.2 final quarter to pull away from Fiftyfour K by 3 ½ lengths in 1:54.2.

Rose Run Valor (Kayne Kauffman) used a pocket sitting trip to finish third.

ANGEL NATION REPLAY

The eight-year-old gelded son of Archangel is conditioned by Antonia Storer for the Friendship Stable.

The winner scored for the twelfth time in 34 seasonal starts and pushes his 2025 earnings to $132,570.

Smith currently leads the driving standings over Page by a 38-37 margin.

In the $19,000 conditioned trot, Easter Jack (Brett Miller) picked up his fourth straight win with an off-the-pace effort.

Spaaaanzano (Tyler Smith) and E Pass (Austin Hanners) received the first call, with Spaaaanzano leading past the quarter in :27.3 and half in :56.1.

Miller had Easter Jack first-over and on the lead at the three-quarters in 1:24.

Easter Jack sprinted home and defeated a closing Distance Learning (Brady Galliers) by four lengths.

Spaaaanano held on for third.

The final time of 1:52.4 equaled the four-year-old Dover Dan gelding’s lifetime mark.

Easter Jack is co-owned by John Robert Schwartz and trainer Kyle Husted.

The win was his 14th victory this season and pushed his 2025 earnings over $100,000.

Thursday’s Dayton Raceway 14-race card will kick off at 4:00 PM.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results

By Jay Wolf for Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway