Virgil Morgan, Jr. lands feature double

Trainer Virgil Morgan, Jr. and owner Odds On Racing swept the top two filly and mare harness racing pacing events with Hey Hey Mama (Downbytheseaside) and Strong Poison (Always B Miki) Thursday evening (Dec. 4) at Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway.

Luke Hanners gave Hey Hey Mama a perfect pocket trip to take the $28,000 Open Pace.

Fearless Ginger (Chris Page) was hustled off the gates wings and grabbed control, putting Hey Hey Mama in the pocket at the opening quarter in :27.3.

As the field of nine passed the stands for the first time, Wild Rosa (Tyler Smith) was pulled and started the outer flow before the half-mile station in a comfortable :57.

Fearless Ginger and Wild Rosa picked up the pace, racing in tandem down the backside and hitting the three-quarters in 1:24.4.

Hey Hey Mama sat patiently in the pocket and bounced with a passing lane move to score the one length win over Fearless Ginger in 1:52.2.

HEY HEY MAMA REPLAY

Side Piece (Trace Tetrick) was third and Wild Rosa rounded out the superfecta.

Morgan, Jr. and Odds On Racing share ownership in the five-year-old Downbytheseaside mare.

She has won four of her last five starts at Dayton Raceway.

The $24,000 Open II Filly and Mare Pace was a gate to wire-effort for Strong Poison (Chris Page).

The pair of Virgil Morgan, Jr. trainees battled for the early lead, by Sarasota Hanover (Luke Hanners) elected to let stablemate Strong Poison to grab the lead.

The field raced in single file through the half in identical :28.1 panels.

Lyin’ Eyes (Josh Sutton) was the first to pull in the paddock turn, but Strong Poison had opened some daylight at the three-quarters in 1:24.1.

Strong Poison was able to cruise home in 1:53 to record the 3 ½ length win over Lyin’ Eyes.

Celebrate Me Home (Austin Hanners) nipped Jules Hill (Brett Miller) at the line for third.

The winning Always B Miki mare had been off since a third-place effort on October 30.

Strong Poison, a winner of $1.1 million during her four-year racing career, is owned exclusively by Odds On Racing.

There were several big win payouts during the evening making for an average win ticket of $25.00 on the 14-race card.

Driver Chris Page had another big night with four trips to the winner’s circle.

Racing resumes Friday (Dec. 5) at Dayton Raceway with a 4:00 pm first post. Free past performance programs are available at hollywooddaytonraceway.com.

Saturday’s card will feature the Ohio Harness Horseman’s Association’s annual Charity Night with ten Dayton area charities being teamed up with local horses to race for a total of $32,000.

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

By Jay Wolf for Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway