Summer stakes underway at Ocean Downs

The first round of preliminaries for three-year-old Maryland sired harness racing horses went to post on Monday June 27^th after a rain delay when the skies opened up about 30 minutes prior to post at Ocean Downs.

First up were the sophomore colt and gelding trotters. Hoofbeats De Vie (Charlie De Vie) remains undefeated in 2 years of Maryland Sire Stakes going to wire in 2:00, last quarter in 29.4 on a sloppy track. Whitesville Mr Aw (Doggone Yankee) was up for place.

Hoofbeats De Vie is owned and bred by Joie De Vie Stable LLC, trained by Chris Lakata and driven by Russell Foster.

Two splits for the three-year-old filly paces went to post as races 3 and 5.

In the third Predict The Future (Rusty’s All In) took control out of the gate, holding off the favorite Lloyds Ladys (Rusty’s All In) in a stretch duel to the wire with only a head separating them in the 1:59 mile. Roger Plante Jr. was assigned the reins by trainer Steve LeBlanc for owner/breeder Dr. William Solomon.

The final stake of the night gave the crowd a thrill when Connies All In (Rusty’s All In) sitting 4^th until the backstretch, charged up to catch the front running Grey Rocket (Cam’s Rocket) in the last stride at the wire, taking the photo by a nose. Jared Moyer was in the bike for owner/breeder Pam Wagner, John Wagner was the trainer. Time for the mile was 1:57.4.

Ocean Downs hosted the Frank Phillips Memorial Race for the longtime employee who passed away last year as race 4. Sugarplum Bluechip captured the race for driver/trainer/owner John Wagner with the blanket being presented back to Mrs. Phillips after the photos were taken.

For complete race results, click here.

by Cheri Stambaugh, for the Maryland Standardbred Development Fund