Delaware County Fair: Nelsonbriteagle cruises in Ms. Versatility Series final

Norwegian-bred Nelsonbriteagle picked up Dexter Dunn in the bike for the first time and was a dominant 1:52 3/5 winner in the $90,000 Ms. Versatility Series final for older trotting mares at the Delaware (Ohio) County Fair.

The field of eight was reduced to six with scratches of Warrawee Xenia and Call Me Goo, and then three of the remaining six - Tipsy Moni, HP Mama B and Helpoftheseason - went off-stride, leaving just Nelsonbriteagle, Tactical Mounds (Scott Zeron) and Adare Castle (James MacDonald) to decide it.

Nelsonbriteagle put up fractions of 27 4/5, 56 3/5 and 1:25 2/5, got separation on the other two coming to three-quarters, and wound up tallying by open lengths. Adare Castle tipped out of third as they raced in the backstretch for the last time and got by Tactical Mounds for second.

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"She left the gate super and she felt good the whole mile. I could hear Jason (Settlemoir) announcing a few breakers, but she did it really easy," Dunn said after the race. "It's the first time I've sat behind her, but she's a lovely mare."

Trainer Ake Svanstedt also co-owns the 6-year-old daughter of Bold Eagle with breeder Nils Munkhaugen. Nelsonbriteagle won for the 13th time in her career, has earned $163,254 and paid $3.80 to win as the favorite.