Miami Valley: Toes In The Water scores in Hackett Memorial final

You can see the sparkle in trainer Tye Loy's eye when he talks about Toes In The Water. His dream of conditioning another Ohio champion might have seemed unlikely for much of the daughter of Long Tom's freshman season, but looks like a distinct possibility now.

With Trace Tetrick in the sulky, Toes In The Water won the $50,000 James K. Hackett Memorial final at Miami Valley Raceway on Monday (April 25), upsetting defending Ohio Sires Stakes filly trot champion Gabbys C Note (Aaron Merriman) in the process.

Tetrick allowed eventual show finisher Stephanie Hill (Jeremy Smith) to briefly clear to the front from an outside post position, but quickly retook the lead as the pair trotted past the quarter in 28 4/5. As the field approached the 57 3/5 halfway juncture, Gabbys C Note took up the chase in first-over position on the outside.

By the time the third beam was tripped in 1:26 1/5, Gabbys C Note was lapped on to Toes In The Water, and the race to the finish was on. With Tetrick's urging, the winner maintained her slim margin down the entire stretch and prevailed by a half-length in 1:55 3/5, a new lifetime mark.

Loy chose a conservative approach with his $12,000 yearling purchase during the 2021 campaign. Toes In The Water made ten starts, divided between Buckeye Stallion Series races and Ohio County Fairs. Her most lucrative race by far was the $60,000 final in the Buckeye Stallion Series in which she finished second by just a head at 12-1 odds.

"I knew she was a nice filly," smiled Loy, "and was worth bringing along slowly. She got some good experience winning five races as a 2-year-old, but never really got up to speed until that last start in October."

Tetrick is the fifth driver to win with Toes In The Water thus far, joining Ryan Stahl, Don Irvine Jr., Ronnie Wrenn Jr. and Don McKirgan. She is owned in partnership by Loy and Roger Morlock.

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A $26,000 Open Handicap Trot was also featured on the program with Big City Pearl (LeWayne Miller) upending Flemsteen (Merriman) and Kings County (Brett Miller) in 1:53 3/5. It was the fourth seasonal win for the daughter of Chapter Seven, all coming at Miami Valley. As the lone mare in the field, Big City Pearl returned $25 to her backers.

--press release (Miami Valley)--