Dayton: Mission Accepted, McWicked favored in Dayton Derbies

Battle lines have been drawn for Friday’s $171,250 Dayton Trotting Derby as well as the $151,750 Dayton Pacing Derby at Hollywood Dayton Raceway. The 17 horses in the combined fields have accumulated a whopping 376 victories and amassed over $20 million in career earnings.

Mission Accepted (Yannick Gingras) has been installed the 2-1 morning line favorite in the Dayton Trotting Derby, based largely on his impressive runnerup finish in the recent Caesars Trotting Classic at Hoosier Park. The former Ohio Sires Stakes champion by Manofmanymissions, trained by Ron Burke, seeks his fifth win of the season and will surpass a quarter million dollars in earnings with any check in this race.

Manchego (Dexter Dunn), one of two mares in the elite field, will open at 7-2 odds for trainer Nancy Johansson. The 4-year-old $1.7 million earner by Muscle Hill was a Breeders Crown winner and age 2 and Hambletonian Oaks champion at 3. Speeding Spur N (Brian Sears) has been assigned a 4-1 morning line. By far the oldest horse in the race, the 8-year-old by Pegasus Spur captured the $148,000 Crawford Farms stake at Tioga six weeks ago for trainer Linda Toscano.

Others descending on Dayton on Friday are Custom Cantab (Aaron Merriman, 9-2), Fiftydallarbill (Tim Tetrick, 6-1), Two O B Wonkenobi (Brett Miller, 8-1), Bridge To Jesse’s (David Miller, 10-1), I Know My Chip (Jeremy Smith, 12-1) and Elmo Blatch (Jason Beattie, 15-1).

McWicked (Brian Sears) got the ever-so-slight 5-2 favoritism nod over 3-1 This Is The Plan (Yannick Gingras) and 4-1 Western Fame (Dan Noble) in the Dayton Pacing Derby. McWicked tops the eight combatants with $4.6 million in lifetime earnings, although five of the other seven have earned over $1 million, too. McWicked, trained by Casie Coleman and now 8, has won a host of the sport’s most prestigious races including the Breeders Crown, Canadian Pacing Derby, William Haughton Memorial, Progress Pace and the Adios. His 2019 triumphs include the Jim Ewart Memorial, the Roll With Joe and the Gerrity Memorial.

This Is The Plan copped the Hoosier Park Pacing Derby in his most recent start. Western Fame paced the second fastest mile in Dayton Raceway history (1:48 1/5) in his local tune up. 2018 Little Brown Jug winner Courtly Choice (Brett Miller, 9-2) is sure to be heard from in this contest, as are Filibuster Hanover (Matt Kakaley, 6-1), defending champion and Dayton track record holder Donttellmeagain (Tim Tetrick, 8-1), Jimmy Freight (Scott Zeron, 10-1), and Endeavor (Sam Widger, 12-1). In total, the Dayton Pacing Derby field has visited 168 winner’s circles and banked over $13.2 million.

Post time for the stellar Friday night card at Hollywood Dayton is 6:15 p.m. Estimated post time for the Dayton Trotting Derby is 9 p.m. with the Dayton Pacing Derby slated for two races later at approximately 9:40 p.m.

-edited release (Dayton)