Hollywood Dayton: Kissin In The Sand surges by Shartin in Distaff Derby

Kissin In The Sand, fresh off impressive wins in her elimination and the final of the Milton Stakes up at Woodbine Mohawk Park, kept the beat going with a track record-tying 1:49 victory in the $175,000 Dayton Distaff Derby for pacing mares on Saturday night at Hollywood Dayton.

Shartin (Tim Tetrick), who hadn't made a pari-mutuel start since taking the Artiscape at Tioga Downs on August 16, went to the lead from post two and chopped out fractions of 26 3/5, 54 2/5, and 1:21 2/5. Caviart Ally (Andrew McCarthy) attacked first-over out of third just prior to the half, and that gave cover to Kissin In The Sand (Dexter Dunn).

Shartin gave Kissin In The Sand the cold shoulder around the last turn, and sensing his cover had gone as far as it was going to go, Dunn fired Kissin In The Sand three-wide midway through the bend. Shartin turned for home first and looked like she might be tough to catch, but Kissin In The Sand had other ideas as she hit top gear and chased down the defending Horse of the Year on her way to the win by three-parts of a length. Caviart Ally held third in the race, followed by Treacherous Reign (David Miller), Warrawee Ubeaut (Yannick Gingras), and Stonebridge Soul (Brett Miller).

"She qualified at Lexington before she went to Canada. Qualified great and went up there and raced brilliantly in the Milton," said Dunn. "I've raced against that great mare (Shartin) many times and struggled to get close to her. This mare, she's really in the top of her form at the moment."

Nancy Takter trains Kissin In The Sand, a 5-year-old mare by Somebeachsomewhere, for owners Marvin Katz and Bud Hatfield. Kissin In The Sand has a record of 23-11-6 from 54 career efforts, and she has now earned $1,470,594. She paid $3.80 to win as the 4-5 favorite.

Dunn also won the night's $25,000 fillies and mares Open Handicap Pace with New Zealand import Miss You in 1:49 for trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. and owners Carl Howard and Bottom Line Racing LLC. Miss You, a 6-year-old daughter of Betterthancheedar, is now a 20-time winner and has pocketed $235,060. She returned $3.20 to win as the 3-5 choice.