Thistledown track report

NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - Mike Rowland won his 27th local riding title at the recently concluded Thistledown meet, when he won with 50 of his 245 mounts. Luis Gonzalez was second with 45 wins, and Lyndon Hannigan was third with 40.

Trainer Andy Konkoly notched his second meeting title, with 24 winners from 89 runners. Miguel Feliciano finished second, winning 22 of 87, followed by Rodney Faulkner, who sent of 20 winners from 105 horses.

The ontrack handle of $10,420,296 for the meet reflected a 13 percent drop over the corresponding meeting in 2001. Total handle increased 5 percent, to $25,169,355 from $23,984,965.

Attendance for the meet was down 3 percent from last year's meet.

On Wednesday, purses were dropped about 7 percent. No one from track management was available for comment on the reason for the purse cut.

* Mike Hanks, who began his riding career here, died Sunday following an extended bout with cancer. Hanks had been working as a valet here since retiring from the saddle. He won four meeting titles here in the early 1970's before moving to Finger Lakes, where he rode for 15 seasons.

* Tommy Meyers, the 56-year old dean of the Ohio riding colony, had won with six of his last eight mounts going into Wednesday's card. A winner of more than 150 stakes in Ohio, Meyers has won 2,259 races.