Hilltop Sonar too Strong in sloppy conditions

Hilltop Sonar (What The Hill) used a perfect pocket trip to overcome sloppy track conditions and nine harness racing rivals to take the $18,000 featured conditioned claiming trot Tuesday (Nov. 18) at Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway.Aunt Lilly (Luke Hanners) and Hilltop Sonar (Chris Page) both left aggressively with the intent to grab the early lead.

Aunt Lilly cleared and Page put Hilltop Sonar in the pocket during the opening quarter of :28.

The 50-1 shot Tombstone (Marc St. Louis, Jr.) could no find a spot on the rail and was forced to go the long-mile as the field reached the half mile station in :57.1.

As the field made their way down the backstretch, the bettor’s choice, Sure Did (Jeremy Smith) was forced to go three-wide around the tiring Tombstone at the three-quarters in 1:26.

As the leader made the final turn, Hanners popped the ear plugs on Aunt Lilly, but Hilltop Sonar pulled the pocket and drew two lengths clear of a closing Southernsunshine (Brett Miller) in 1:54.4.

HILLTOP SONAR REPLAY

Aunt Lilly held on for the show spot and Sure Did rounded out the top four.

Hilltop Sonar is a sophomore son of What The Hill and is owned by the quartet of Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Beasty and Rich Lombardo Racing.

Brett Miller picked up one of his three wins on the evening in the $15,000 non-Winners of 4 Conditioned Pace with Fly High Cruiser.

Austin Hanners had Threemargaritashot quickly off the gate’s wings, putting Fly High Cruiser in the two-hole, but Miller was not content to trail the 25-1 leader.

A quick brush had Fly High Cruiser on the lead past the opening panels in :28.3 and :56.1.

A quick move by Believe In Tom (Marc St. Louis, Jr.) down the backstretch provided a little pressure at the three-quarters in 1:23.4.

Fly High Cruiser responded to Miller’s urging and opened up and won by 2 ¾ lengths over Be Ready To Rock (Luke Hanners) in the passing lane.

A furious rally by the favorite Boomerang (Chris Page) created a dead heat for show with Threemargariteshot.

The three-year-old Yankee Cruiser gelding is co-owned by trainer/breeder Anette Lorentzon and Tony Hall.

Driver Tyler Smith also picked up a trio of wins on the 14-race card.

Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway’s Wednesday card (Nov. 19) will go postward at 4:00 P.M.

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

By Jay Wolf for Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway