Ammo romps late in Open Handicap

FORT WASHINGTON, Md. — After winning his previous three top-level assignments in Maryland from off the pace, Ammo (Sweet Lou-Beach Gal) surged to the fore early and powered away from his eight harness racing rivals late to post a front-end 1:50.2 win in Monday’s (Dec. 9) $10,500 Open Handicap Pace at Rosecroft Raceway.

Jonathan Roberts had the accelerator down with 3-5 favorite Ammo heading into the first turn, and the pair circled three-wide from post nine around Business Director before forging clear of Skyway Victor (driven by Eric Davis) at the end of a :27.2 first quarter.

Ammo maintained a stout pace through middle splits of :55 and 1:22, and those fractions were enough for the 4-year-old pacer to draw clear of his eight rivals. He wrapped up the mile 6-1/4 lengths clear of Walden Woods (Hugh O’Neil), who sustained gradual first-over gains to take second at the top of the stretch. Business Director (Russell Foster) circled four-wide from third-over cover to just miss the runner-up spot.

Trainer Michael Hall co-owns 15-time winner Ammo, who paid $3.20 to win, with Macklin Creek LLC.