The first of four $40,000 James K. Hackett Memorial championship races for Ohio-sired sophomore trotters and pacers was featured on Monday at Miami Valley Raceway.
Swizzle Hanover (Mike Wilder), a daughter of Uncle Peter, was impressive winning in 1:55.4 over Ozma (Aaron Merriman) and Magic Credit Card (Brett Miller).
Despite a second place finish in last week’s elimination heat, the public sent Swizzle Hanover to post as the 3-5 favourite and she looked the part throughout the championship tilt. Wilder patiently marched his filly forward before clearing to the front as the :28.2 first quarter beam was tripped. From there he rated a mile with splits of :57.3 and 1:26.1 while elimination winner Ozma (Aaron Merriman) sat nose-to-helmet on his back. Despite his attempt to rally Ozma in the stretch, Merriman couldn’t get any closer as the winner crossed the finish line in 1:55.4 with a margin of just over a length on the runner-up.