Miami Valley: More Scarlet & Gray action held, all-age track record set

Mission Accepted (trot) and Rockathon (pace) won a pair of $50,000 Scarlet & Gray Invitationals for 3-year-old colts, and Nuclear Dragon established an all-age track record during Saturday night's card at Miami Valley Raceway.

The Ohio Sires Stakes final and Ohio Breeders Championship winner at two, Mission Accepted started his sophomore season with a 1:54 3/5 decision in the Scarlet & Gray for trotters.

Driven by Ryan Stahl, Mission Accepted took the lead away from Sultan Of Cash (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) past the 29 2/5 opening quarter, then got to the half in 58 seconds. Mission Accepted fought off a first-over threat from In My Dreams (Hugh Beatty) to the 1:26 2/5 three-quarters, then kicked away from his rivals in the final quarter, winning by 3 1/4 lengths. Sultan Of Cash held second, with Mvp Luke (Dan Noble) back in third.

Mission Accepted is a Manofmanymissions colt trained by Jeff Conger, who also co-owns with David Wills and breeder Knox Services Inc. Mission Accepted is now a five-time winner in his career, and he has earned $215,800. He was the 4-5 favorite and paid $3.60 to win.

In the companion Scarlet & Gray for pacers, Rockathon (Noble), who was the runner-up in the Ohio Sires Stakes final at two, was a 1:51 3/5 victor.

Rockathon made his way into the lead beyond the 27 4/5 opening quarter, and would hit the half in just 57 seconds, with last week's Hackett Memorial winner Sectionline Bigry (Tyler Smith) advancing first-up at that point. Sectionline Bigry's bid stalled out at the 1:24 1/5 three-quarters, and Rockathon would kick on in the final quarter to prevail by 1 1/4 lengths over early leader Dragonlogy (Chris Page). Sectionline Bigry had to settle for third.

The victorious Pet Rock gelding is trained by Jim Dailey for owners Kimberly Dailey, Carl Atley, and Melanie Atley. Rockathon posted his fifth lifetime triumph, and he has now put away $156,212. He was a 2-1 shot and paid $6.80 to win.

Noble would also win the night's open pace with Nuclear Dragon in 1:49, which bettered Franzo's previous track record by a fifth of a second. Nuclear Dragon, trained by Jeff Johnson Jr. for owner Richard Mishkin, is a 6-year-old gelding by Nuclear Breeze, and this was his 16th career tally.