Miami Valley: Charmed Life topples Hannelore Hanover in Miami Valley Distaff Trot

9-1 shot Charmed Life rallied by Hannelore Hanover and Churita late in the going to take the $86,400 Miami Valley Distaff Trot for mares on Sunday afternoon at Miami Valley Raceway.

A field of seven lined up for the race, but it was reduced to six before the start when South Side Hanover (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) made a break. Barn Girl (Aaron Merriman) was the early leader, taking the group to the opening quarter in 28 1/5, but Kestrel (Josh Sutton), who set a new track record of 1:52 1/5 in her last try, brushed from third to first before the 56 3/5 half.

Churita (Trace Tetrick) would then roll the dice first-up from third, and both divisional champion Hannelore Hanover (Yannick Gingras) and Charmed Life (Chris Page) picked up the cover. Hannelore Hanover gapped initially, though, before catching up to Tetrick's helmet near the 1:24 2/5 three-quarters.

Kestrel kept Churita at bay until the stretch, where the tempo-setter faded and Churita, Hannelore Hanover, and a widest-of-all Charmed Life battled it out. Charmed Life went the best late, and was up to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:53 2/5, with Hannelore Hanover just getting up over Churita at the finish line.

Charmed Life is a 7-year-old Majestic Son mare trained by Rene Allard for owners Allard Racing Inc., Yves Sarrazin, and VIP Internet Stable LLC. This was her 25th career victory, and she has now earned $1,109,767. She paid $21.00 to win.