WILMINGTON — Close finishes were the order of the day Monday on the first day of harness racing at the Clinton County Fair.
Racing will continue Tuesday with the first race set to start at 5 p.m.
Because of deadline, the results of all races were not able to be published in the News Journal print edition. All results can be found online at www.wnewsj.com.
All races were part of the Ohio Colt Racing Association and consisted of 2- and 3-year-old horses.
In the first race, Mad Eye Moody paced the oval twice in 1:59.3 with Trevor Smith in the sulky. Mad Eye Moody rallied down the stretch to overcome Terroronthetrack by a head.
In the second race, Smith drove his second winner of the day as Baker Time trotted the mile in 2:04.0 and beat out Long Ken by a nose.
In the third race, Dan Noble drove Dontforgetlittleman who won another tight finish in 2:02. He edged Wegoforthefront by a neck in the mile trot.
In the fourth race, Amour Cruiser made it four straight close calls as Noble made it two wins in a row. Amour Cruiser paced the mile in 1:57.1 and Open My Eyes went 1:57.2 as the place horse.
In the fifth race, Smokin Gunslinger had the first “easy” win in 2:02.4, out-pacing Isaidouttamyway by a length. Ray Paver drove the winner.
In the sixth race, Grandpa Pete trotted the mile in 2:07.2 with driver Ryan Holton. Shamrock was the not-so-lucky runnerup in 2:07.3.
In the seventh race, Malibu Kid and Leaping Legend went back and forth the entire race before Malibu Kid hit the line a neck ahead in the mile trot. Winning time was 2:02.4 with Ronnie Gillespie in the sulky.
In the eighth race, Pinot Blanc had a tasty win in 1:59.0 over Hello Rocky in the mile pace. Austin Hanners picked up his first driving win of the day.
In the ninth race, Eagle On A Hill gave Gillespie his second driving win of the day, pacing the mile in 2:01.2 to win by a head over Art of Revenge.
In the 10th race, the results were finally not in question as Trevor Smith had the driving hat trick behind All Gas No Brakes. The winner clocked 2:05 while the runnerup crossed the line in 2:12.1. The rest of the field was well back in the mile trot.
In the 11th race, a mile pace, things were back to being close at the finish as Burrow and four-time winning driver Trevor Smith were the winners in 2:02.1. Poets N Pirates was runnerup.
In the 12th race, a mile pace, King’s Cruiser won by five lengths in 1:56.3 with Jeff Nisonger at the reins. Let’snotforget was the place horse.
In the 13th race, another mile pace, Oceanfrontproperty finished in 2:01.1 to give Jeff Nisonger a second straight win. Mark Winters trained the race winner.
In the 14th race, Mr Steele trotted the oval twice in 2:09 as Randy Tharps won for the first time in the sulky on this day. Jazzman Deep, another Mark Winters horse, was second.
The final race of the Monday program was a runaway as Pullingthestrings, with Kerry Roehm in the sulky, was the mile pace winner in 1:57.4. Official Bean was second in 1:59.1.
