I Wanna Win notches second consecutive Buckeye Cup triumph
I Wanna Win continued his march to the fall showcase races by winning his second $100,000 Best of Ohio Governor's Buckeye Cup on Saturday at Thistledown.
The Best of Ohio has evolved into a series of showcases throughout the year at all three of the state’s Thoroughbred tracks to promote the Ohio racing and breeding programs. The series kicked off with stakes at Belterra Park in early June, followed by this summer program at Thistledown, with five stakes worth a combined $100,000. The annual fall showcase program of five season-capping stakes, which go a long way toward determining statebred champions, will be held at Mahoning Valley.
I Wanna Win ($3.80) won last year’s Buckeye Cup en route to a win in the Best of Ohio Endurance, both at 1 1/4 miles. He scored Saturday’s repeat win by a head with Malcolm Franklin in the irons for James Jackson, fighting back when headed by Tantrum.
Ohio-bred champion Candlelight Hours ($7.60) gave Jackson a training double in the stakes, taking the $100,000 Best of Ohio Pay the Man Stakes for fillies and mares by 1 1/4 lengths. T.D. Houghton was aboard.
Diamond Dust ($20.80), also an Ohio-bred champion earlier in his career, was overlooked in a deep field for the $100,000 Best of Ohio Honey Jay Stakes and posted a 1 3/4-length win.
Rounding out the action, Who Dey ($3.60) won the $100,000 Best of Ohio Cleveland Kindergarten for 2-year-olds, and Practicallyelusive ($3.40) won the sister race, the $100,000 Best of Ohio Miss Ohio.
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