Familiar foes renew rivalries in Best of Ohio stakes

Drillit and Moonlit Mission renew their rivalry in Saturday’s $100,000 Pay the Man Stakes, part of the Best of Ohio program at Thistledown.

The 1 1/8-mile Pay the Man, which has drawn a field of 11 fillies and mares, is one of five Ohio-bred stakes on the program, with that quintet totaling $500,000 in purses. Thistledown’s 10-race card has a first post of 12:20 p.m. Eastern.

Drillit is a two-time winner on the rotating fall Best of Ohio program. Trained by Robert Gorham and owned by Mast Thoroughbreds, she won the 2018 John W. Galbreath Memorial Stakes as a juvenile and won the Distaff over Moonlit Mission last October. Drillit has not won in four starts since the Distaff, and is coming off an eighth in the Vivacious on the turf at Belterra Park, only her second start on grass. All seven of her wins have come on dirt.

Drillit and Moonlit Mission’s most recent meeting came in the J. William Petro Memorial at Thistledown in June. Moonlit Mission won the 1 1/16-mile race by three-quarters of a length over Drillit.

Four-time stakes winner Moonlit Mission , trained by Silvano Gonzalez, most recently was second in a Thistledown allowance to Sally Strong, the upstart in this field.

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Sally Strong, trained by Mike Rone, has won all three of her starts this year and is 5 of 6 overall, with her only loss coming when second on a sloppy track. She is making her stakes debut Saturday and brings the top last-out Beyer Speed Figure in this field, a career-best 68 in her defeat of Moonlit Mission.

Moonlit Mission crossed the line first by eight lengths in the 2020 Pay the Man, but was disqualified to seventh for interference. Drillit crossed the line seventh but was moved up a spot. Others returning from last year’s Pay the Man include Circus Rings (second, declared winner), Totally Obsessed (fourth, promoted to third), Cali Dream (fifth, promoted to fourth), and Grizabella (sixth, promoted to fifth). Grizabella is coming off a win in the Vivacious Handicap on turf at Belterra.

Several familiar faces also return for the $100,000 Honey Jay for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs, including two-time Ohio-bred horse of the year Altissimo and the millionaire Mo Dont No.

The 8-year-old Altissimo won this race in 2018 and finished second in both the 2019 and 2020 editions. Altissimo has won 10 stakes, including two runnings of the Best of Ohio Sprint. Trained by Richard Zielinski, Altissimo has won both his starts this year, the Babst/Palacios Memorial Stakes May 28 and an allowance sprint at Thistledown July 14.

Mo Dont No, trained by Gary Johnson, also is a two-time Ohio-bred horse of the year and a 10-time stakes winner. He is best known for his longer-distance races, having won the Best of Ohio Endurance three straight years. But he is an open stakes winner against sprint company, taking the Steel Valley Sprint for 3-year-olds in 2016 via disqualification. He also was second in the Best of Ohio Sprint last fall, beaten a length by Chief Randel, who returns in the Honey Jay looking for his first win since.

Forewarned, who has won the two most recent editions of the Best of Ohio Endurance, is among the contenders in the $100,000 Governor’s Buckeye Cup at 1 1/4 miles. Third in this race last season to Mo Dont No, Forewarned is winless in seven starts this year – six against open company – and ran fifth in the Deputed Testamony going 1 1/8 miles two weeks ago. In his only race this year with Ohio-breds, Forewarned finished second by 10 1/4 lengths to Wicked Warrior in the 1 1/16-mile Sydney Gendelman on a sloppy track at Belterra in May. Wicked Warrior comes into the Governor’s Buckeye Cup on a three-race win streak that began in the Gendelman.

Corner Office, Condemnation, Thedayofthegrey, and Tantrum, who swept the top four placings in the Hoover Stakes last month at Belterra, meet again in the $100,000 Cleveland Kindergarten for 2-year-olds going six furlongs. Corner Office, Condemnation, and Tantrum all race for one of Ohio’s most powerful stables, with Kentucky-based WinStar Farm co-breeding and co-owning those three with trainer Tim Hamm. The trio will race as an entry.

Corner Office posted a Beyer of 59 in the Hoover, the top career number in this field of juveniles.

This WinStar-Hamm partnership also is represented by multiple entrants in the sister race, the $100,000 Miss Ohio. The duo is led by Tah Dah Stakes runner-up Candlelight Hours, and she is joined by stablemate Prophetess. The top Beyer Figure in this race is the 48 earned on debut by Starlit Secret for Williams and Gonzalez – hinting that perhaps they have another solid filly behind Moonlit Mission.