In The Raceway in the Western Fair District on Wednesday, May 1, J One Twenty (Artspeak) turned in a lifetime-best performance to win her first Preferred harness racing triumph.
On Tyler Borth's first trip down the backstretch, J One Twenty outmuscled Caesars Shot (Brett MacDonald) to seize the lead in a first quarter of :27.3. Prior to Carsons Gouda (Travis Henry) showing up first-over and pushing the leader to the three-quarter mark in 1:26, she reached the half in 1:57.3.
As the last curve approached, Carsons Gouda found it difficult to make progress, but Caesars Shot moved out of the pocket and picked up speed in the dash for the finish. The race-long pocket-sitter got going, but J One Twenty held on by a quarter of a length in 1:55, and she was unable to catch up.
Carsons Gouda was third in the race.
J One Twenty is three for ten this season after taking an almost year-long hiatus in March. With 36 races under his belt, the five-year-old has now earned $95,494 for owners Jerry Sims of Denfield and John Obrien of Lucan. He has won 16 times. Sims teaches the mare.
With a sixth straight victory on the card, Mighty Mary (Hes Watching) also maintained her undefeated record for the season. The four-year-old dropped four-fifths of a second from her career record with a mile time of 1:56 while riding alongside Dan Clements. For Gary and Joyce Gonyou, Jason Libby trains the mare, who has eight wins and $45,418 in earnings from 21 lifetime starts.
Friday, May 3 at 5:50 p.m. EDT marks the return of racing to The Raceway in the Western Fair District.