Thistle trainers sweep Best of Ohio

NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - Thistledown-based trainers swept Monday's five Best of Ohio day stakes here while shutting out their counterparts at Beulah Park and River Downs, Ohio's other two Thoroughbred tracks.

Miguel Feliciano won two of the five stakes, taking the $100,000 Endurance for the second year in a row with Majestic Dinner and the $75,000 Juvenile with Forest Picnic, who upset 1-10 favorite Hackendiffy - the shortest-priced favorite ever to lose a Best of Ohio race.

Hackendiffy was so heavily backed that he created a minus show pool of $l,346 when he finished second.

The other trainers who won Best of Ohio stakes were Alan Sobol, whose Bolaro snapped Ifufeelfroggy's three-race stakes-winning streak in the Juvenile Fillies; Rodrigo Madrigal Sr., who won the Distaff with Ashwood C C; and owner-trainer Chuck Kovach, who is enjoying the best year of his career and won the Sprint with Waist Gunner John.

* The Randall meet closed last Friday and the jockeys' race went down to the wire. Mike Rowland and Jeffrey Skerrett were tied going into the last race and Rowland's horse beat Skerrett's mount to give him the title, 52-51.

Trainer Andy Konkoly won his third local title, and second this year, by winning 24 races from 59 starters. Rowland was aboard all of Konkoly's winners.