Altissimo in fine form to seek Best of Ohio Sprint repeat

A victory on the 2018 Best of Ohio program made Altissimo the Buckeye State’s horse of the year. He is one of several familiar faces returning for the state showcase card on Saturday at Mahoning Valley Racetrack in Youngstown.

Mahoning Valley opens its meet, which runs through April, the day before the Best of Ohio card, which features five statebred stakes worth a total of $750,000. The Best of Ohio card rotates among the state’s Thoroughbred tracks.

Mahoning Valley annually cards one of the state’s richest races, the $250,000 Steel Valley Sprint. The open race for 3-year-olds is set for Nov. 25.

Altissimo headlines the $150,000 Best of Ohio Sprint. Mo Dont No, several times the state’s horse of the year, is the three-time defending winner of the $150,000 Best of Ohio Endurance. Takechargedelilah is the defending winner of the $150,000 Best of Ohio Distaff.

Altissimo, who is trained by Richard Zielinski for Ronald Zielinski and Nancy Lavrich, won five stakes last year, highlighted by a ninelength victory in the Sprint at Thistledown over Coincidentally, with multiple statebred champion Rivers Run Deep in third. This year, the 6-yearold Altissimo might be even better, with Richard Zielinski giving much of the credit to his stable staff.

“He just seems to have that natural ability. Everything he’s done so far, he’s done easily,” the trainer said. “He’s a little bit of a temperamental kind of horse, and the groom that takes care of him I think really got in his head and figured out how to make him happy, and it’s worked.”

This season, Altissimo scored repeat victories in the Edward Babst/Albert Palacios Memorial Handicap and Sydney Gendelman Memorial Handicap, both at Belterra, before winning in open company in the Hockessin Stakes at Delaware. The gelding returned to his home state to finish a close second in the Honey Jay Stakes in August at Thistledown. He then turned in one of his best efforts, stepping up to graded stakes company to finish second by three-quarters of a length to Killybegs Captain in the Grade 3 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash on Sept. 21 at Laurel.

The competition for Altissimo and regular rider Christian Pilares includes Coincidentally, who is winless this year; Dare Day, whose only loss in four career starts came when he was fifth in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby, in which Breeders’ Cup Classic-bound Owendale and Math Wizard made up the exacta; Diamond Dust, who won the Juvenile on last year’s Best of Ohio program and is a multiple stakes winner this year; and stakes winners Cake Pop, Midnight Mikey, and Pat’s Karma.

Mo Dont No, owned by Ron Paolucci and trained by Jeff Radosevich, was Ohio’s horse of the year in 2016 and 2017 after winning the Best of Ohio Endurance, and lost out on the vote to Altissimo last year despite winning the Endurance for the third straight year. A 6-year-old gelding who is closing in on millionaire status with $908,020 in earnings, Mo Dont No has won once from eight starts this season. However, he is getting back to his favored distance of 1 1/4 miles after most recently finishing third in a pair of sprint allowance races. Mo Dont No is 5 for 6 with one runner-up effort at 1 1/4 miles.

Radosevich will also saddle the rising star Verissimo, who sports a 4-3-0 record from seven starts this year. Owned by Richard Spicer and D. William Spitler, Verissimo finished second by a neck to Mobil Solution in the Governor’s Buckeye Stakes in his first try at 1 1/4 miles, then turned the tables on Mobil Solution to beat him by a neck in the Catlaunch Stakes at 1 1/16 miles last out. Mobil Solution and Over Icce, who was third by a nose in the Buckeye Cup, are both back for more on Saturday.

Takechargedelilah keys a big hand for Paolucci in the Distaff, as he also owns the race’s 2017 winner, Mayas Queen Neetee, who gets a match with her stablemate on Saturday. Takechargedelilah, trained by Gary Johnson, is winless in six starts since taking last year’s Distaff over Leona’s Reward while in the care of Thomas Drury Jr. Mayas Queen Neetee, who is trained by Radosevich, ran only twice in 2018, with her best finish a third in the Angenora Stakes at Thistledown. This year she finished third in the J. William Petro Memorial at Thistledown in June and second in the Vivacious on turf at Belterra Park in August. She comes into the Distaff off an allowance win at Thistledown.

Leona’s Reward, who is 8 for 11 at Mahoning Valley, is looking to add a win in the Distaff to her glittering résumé. The mare, who is trained by her breeder and co-owner Tim Hamm, has won 11 stakes races, finished second or third in seven others, including her runner-up effort in last year’s Distaff, and has earned more than three-quarters of a million dollars. Leona’s Reward has won just two of six outings this year as a 6-year-old.

The Distaff includes another past Best of Ohio winner in Missap, who won the 2017 John

W. Galbreath Memorial Stakes for juvenile fillies.

Hamm, in his successful partnership with WinStar Farm, sends out one of the favorites for Saturday’s $150,000 Juvenile in Liberate, who faces several familiar foes. Liberate won the first three starts of his career in his home state, taking his debut by 17 1/4 lengths, the Hoover Stakes by seven, and the Cleveland Kindergarten by 8 1/4 lengths. He then ventured out of state, finishing seventh in the Sapling Stakes going a mile at Monmouth Park.

Back in the mix on Saturday are Betchaiwill and Flint Corn, who were second and third in the Hoover, and It’s Official and Dr. Zarnett, who rounded out the trifecta in the Kindergarten. Betchaiwill went on to win the Loyalty Stakes.

The $150,000 John W. Galbreath Stakes features the top three finishers from the Emerald Necklace Stakes, which Edge of Night won by a neck over Cristalinda, with Succotash another neck back in third. All three fillies are stretching out from that sixfurlong race to 1 1/16 miles. Edge of Night has not been worse than second in five starts, all for trainer Robert Gorham.

Moonlit Mission has won three straight races, including the Tah Dah Stakes and a onemile allowance.

The eight-race card Saturday at Mahoning Valley has a first post of 12:15 p.m. Eastern. The card also includes a $33,700 optional claiming race, which is headlined by Drillit, winner of last year’s Galbreath Memorial by 16 1/4 lengths. There also is a $29,600 maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies, which includes three fillies emerging from the Emerald Necklace, led by Diva Power, who was 1 1/2 lengths behind the top three in fourth.