Justalittlesmoke beats open company in Austintown Filly Sprint

Last year’s champion 2-year-old filly in Ohio, Justalittlesmoke, passed her first test against open company Saturday when she outfought Tetrad by a neck in the $75,000 Austintown Filly Sprint at Mahoning Valley Race Course.

Sent to the front by leading rider Terry Houghton, Justalittlesmoke was clear by a length through a half-mile in 47.82 seconds, but Sam Houston shipper Tetrad, under Christian Pilares, drew even at the top of the stretch. Justalittlesmoke just managed to repel a stretch-long bid from Tetrad to win her fourth straight race. Trained by Bob Gorham for his wife, Marion, Justalittlesmoke covered six furlongs in 1:13.84 for her fifth win in eight lifetime starts.

“With all the speed in the race and with us having the inside post, our hand was forced as I didn’t want to take a chance and get caught in traffic," Houghton said. "She is a free-wheeling filly who does her best when on or near the lead so I sent her right out. We faced a lot of pressure, but when I called on her in the stretch she gave me her all and it was enough.”

Tetrad, coming off a 10 1/4-length win against maidens, was 4 1/2 lengths clear of the maiden Dark Darling, who has picked up a pair of third-place finishes in stakes in her first two career starts.

In the co-featured $75,000 Howard Noonan for Ohio-bred 3-year-olds, Gliding Alone ($10.20) snapped a four-race losing streak. Winless since leaving the maiden ranks at Belterra Park last September, Gliding Alone ran six furlongs in 1:13.85 under Deshawn Parker to prevail by a half-length over Unbridled Graduate. It was another 10 1/4 lengths back to Unbridled Graduate's uncoupled stablemate, Bootlegger.

The winner is trained by Luis Jurado for Richard Maynard.