Kildare King in time at Scioto

Kildare King (Trixton) used every inch of the harness racing stretch to nip pacesetter Smoking Jet at the wire to win the $30,000 Open-Handicap Trot at Scioto Downs Friday (June 23).

The 7^th race feature saw Smoking Jet and driver Chris Page leave from post five and take early command of the race. With race favorite Kildare King and driver Trevor Smith sitting the pocket seat, Smoking Jet led the field to the first quarter in :27.1.

Parked out from the start, Saint K (Sam Widget) was the longest shot on the board at odds of 39-1 and they came after Smoking Jet at the half mile marker in :55.1 and was second by a length before he spit out the bit after the half mile.

Winning Ticket (Aaron Merriman) inherited first-over position but could not advance in the backstretch against Smoking Jet, who tripped the teletimer at the three-quarters in :1:23.4. Winning Ticket eventually dropped in the two-hole but had nothing left for the stretch drive.

But Kildare King was ready to challenge Smoking Jet and it took the entire stretch to finally catch them at the wire to win by a neck in 1:52. Shine All The Way (Josh Sutton) closed to be third.

KILDARE KING REPLAY

It was the second win in six starts this year for Kildare King. The five-year-old gelding is trained by Chris Beaver for owner and breeder Robert Goodman and paid $5.40 to win.

For complete race results, click here.

by Steve Wolf, for Harnesslink