Thistledown: Only Boy rallies to victory in Best of Ohio Endurance

NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - Only Boy captured his second stakes win of the year when he closed from well off the pace to a 1 1/4-length win in the 26th running of the $75,000, Best of Ohio Endurance at Thistledown on Friday afternoon.

Only Boy  got through between horses on the second turn under Jareth Loveberry, angled outside to the five path entering the stretch and rallied determinedly. Raise the Reward was second, 2 1/4 lengths ahead of Bold Captain who finished third.

Trained by Larry Rivelli for Our Blue Streak Stable, Only Boy got the 1 1/4 miles in 2:05.02 over the fast track and returned $9.40

"He likes to settle back, and I keep him covered up," said Loveberry. The rider noted that in his last race, when Only Boy ran third in the Governor's Buckeye Cup on Sept. 7, "I had a rough trip, got in too much traffic. But this time I had him covered up, and when I got him clear he just rolled.  He relaxes easier when he's behind them."

Distaff: Pay the Man wins for third time

Pay the Man, winner of the Best of Ohio Distaff last year and in 2008, notched her third victory in the $75,000, 1 1/8-mile Distaff on Friday, winning the 26th running.

Under jockey Luis A. Gonzalez, she advanced steadily four wide, made the lead before the top of the stretch, drifted out a bit and edged clear to a 1 1/4-length win  while under right handed urging over Muir Woods. Startin Something, the favorite, was five lengths farther back in third.
Owned by Pyrite Stables and trained by Miguel Feliciano, Pay the Man got the 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.78 over the fast track and returned $18.20.

"She does a great job." said Feliciano. "She's got so much heart, this mare.
She wasn't quite right in her last race but she always tries. This might be the last year
for her, but I don]t know for sure. She still can run. Whatever her owner says to do
is all right with me."

On breaking from post 12, Feliciano said, "She can go anywhere.  Outside is better for her, because I want her to take back."  Feliciano said that in Pay the Man's last outing, the Rose DeBartolo Memorial, "she was in the front with the other horse, and they killed each other."

Juvenile: Silver Tongued closes to victory

In the Best of Ohio Juvenile, longshot Silver Tongued closed with a rush in the three
path after trailing the field of 10 for nearly six furlongs and drew off to a 3 1/2-length win over Pyrite Mill, who set all the pace until deep stretch. It was another two lengths back to co-favorite
Pyrtie Green.

Silver Tongued, ridden by jockey Scott Spieth - who scored his second win in the
Best of Ohio series - is trained by Jeffrey L. Greenhill for Sherri L. Greenhill. He
got the 1 1/16 miles in 1:47.80 and returned $48.80

Sprint: Sneak a Cold Treat wins battle

Sneak a Cold Treat, under Scott Spieth, battled along the rail with runner-up Royal Nemesis the entire trip and proved best by a half length in the $50,000 Best of Ohio Sprint. Reggies Cat was third, 6 1/2 lengths behind the top two.

Trained by Jeffrey Radosevich for Luch Racing Stable, Sneak a Cold Treat, who won this race
last year, returned $2.40 and got the six furlongs in 1:10.36 in winning his first race of
this year.

"It was scary, wasn't it?" said  He can go either way" - lead or stalk -- "as long as he's close.
But he never gave up. He's an old racehorse. He's got a big heart."

John W. Galbreath: Blazing Bling draws off

Blazing Bling, set almost all the pace relinquishing the lead briefly before a half-mile,
while getting soft fractions along the rail,  then drew away from her five rivals through the stretch  under a confident hand ride from jockey DeShawn Parker to take the $75,000
John W. Galbreath. It was 4 3/4 lengths back to runner-up Deniro's Saint, who was 3 1/4 lengths in front of Pyrite Blues.

Trained by Timothy Hamm for Blazing Meadows Farm, LLC, Blazing Bling, in capturing her third stakes win of her young career, returned $2.60 after getting 1 1/16 miles in 1:47.68 over a fast track.