They say there are few moments in
sports that can rival the photo finish and the $489,400 Valley Victory Final
certainly was representative of that statement.
In the end, the win photograph couldn’t decide a winner, because the
noses of Dog Gone Lucky and Make Or Miss hit the wire together, a dead heat in
the richest race of the night.
For Dog Gone Lucky, the win belonged
to Chuck Sylvester and for Make Or Miss, the story was his young pilot Joe
Bongiorno. The irony, Sylvester was
winning Hambletonians before Bongiorno was born and now they both set their
eyes on harness racing’s greatest prize in 2016.
Dog Gone Lucky made an aggressive move
to the lead, after Mavens Way made a break after a quarter in 27 seconds. In the meantime, Make Or Miss had nearly 10
lengths to make up, trotting in eighth position down the backstretch. Then, the outer flow began to develop as Taco
Tuesday committed first over passed the half in just 57 seconds, a 30-second
second quarter. Marion Marauder picked up that cover and Make Or Miss tracked
the pair on the far turn while Dog Gone Lucky reached three-quarters in 1:26. Dog Gone Lucky opened up a clear lead in the
stretch after a 59-second middle half, but just as he did, Make Or Miss found
his best stride and put that electric turn of foot on display as he began to
reel in the favorite. However, the wire was also coming quickly and it came
just as both noses hit the wire, a dead heat in 1:54.
Joe Bongiorno was nearly speechless in
the winner’s circle. “This is beyond
amazing, I can’t believe it,” said Bongiorno.
“I just want to thank all the connections for giving me the opportunity,
this is the best moment in my life.” Not
to be out-done, trainer Chuck Sylvester reminded that he isn’t done yet. “I’m not retired yet,” Sylvester joked. “These horses will get a well deserved break
and hopefully we’ll back (for the Hambletonian) next year.
The win was the first major stakes win
for Bongiorno and the fifth win in the Valley Victory for Sylvester. It was the second victory for Make Or Miss,
the son of Donato Hanover who now has earnings of over $223,000 while Dog Gone
Lucky won for the seventh time and his fifth in a row, with his earnings now
beyond a half-million dollars.
Make Or Miss is trained by Ron Burke
for Burke Racing Stable, Our Horse Centes Stables, Weaver Bruscemi and Jerry
and Theresa Silva. Dog Gone Lucky was
driven by Corey Callahan for trainer Chuck Sylvester and owners Amy Lynn
Stoltzfus and Charles E Stansley.
Mission Brief Concludes Season with a Statement
The buzz around the $144,000
Continentalvictory was centered around two fillies, Mission Brief and Wild Honey,
hoping to earn divisional honors with a compelling performance. Mission Brief seized that opportunity and
performed like a champion. Sent off as
the prohibitive 1/9 choice, Mission Brief was hustled to the lead early in the
mile and it was a lead she would never relinquish.
Sprinting past a quarter in 27.4,
Mission Brief and her pilot Yannick Gingras kicked away from Wild Honey down
the backstretch and Wild Honey felt whip taps from her driver John Campbell
just to try to keep up. In the meantime,
Mission Brief was trotting smoothly on the lead past the half-mile in 56
seconds and she began to open up on the field on the far turn, reaching
three-quarters in 1:24.1 while leading the field by four lengths. From there, Mission Brief had the Meadowlands
homestretch all to herself and she trotted a 27.2 final quarter under no urging
to win the Continentalvictory in 1:51.3 in the final start of her season, a win
that put Mission Brief past $1 Million this season.
“She’s the best trotter in training,”
exclaimed driver Yannick Gingras in a post-race interview. “No disrespect to
any of the older trotters, but I wish she was in that race tonight. I don’t think any of them want any part of
her.”
Ron Burke was beaming with pride in
the winner’s circle as well. “She’s the
best horse I’ve ever had,” said Burke.
“Next year is going to be tough, she is going to face all the good ones
and I am not going to duck anyone. We
are going to find out if she is as good as we all think she is.”
With the win, Mission Brief concludes
her season with 10 wins from 14 starts and earnings of $1,001,317. For her career, the star filly has 19 wins
from 27 races and earnings of nearly $1.6 Million. She is owned by Burke Racing Stable, Our
Horse Cents Stables, Jerry and Theresa Silva and Weaver Bruscemi. Wild Honey completed the exacta with Kelsey’s
Keepsake and Lady Winona completing the field.
