The curtain has fallen on Dayton Raceway’s 10th racing season, with records all around. Five track records were tied or broken, a repeat driving champion was crowned, the all-time single day handle record was set and 2023 produced an increase in total handle for the fifth straight year.
Starting off with new track records, the track crew, led by track super Jim Shelton, had the racing surface extremely sharp all year and it didn’t take long into the meet to start setting new marks as the first three fell on Dayton Derby night. Tattoo Artist set a new mark for aged horses at 1:48 while winning the Dayton Pacing Derby and Hillexotic set a new mark for aged geldings by winning the Dayton Trotting Derby in 1:51.1. In the Buckeye Stallion Series final for filly trotters, Justasiam As shattered the old mark in crossing the line in 1:54.4. In December, not exactly a well known track record-breaking month, Dayton fans saw two records tied. Art Scaping tied the aged gelding mark at 1:49 and Dover In Motion tied the four-year-old gelding mark of 1:52.1.
Jeremy Smith picked up where he left off, defending his driving title in 2022 by repeating in 2023. Smith, who was sidelined the first five weeks of the meet while recovering from surgery, spotted his rivals nearly 150 starts. On Dec. 7, he still trailed by 14 wins, and by Dec. 29, he had clinched the title being 22 wins ahead at that time. He won at nearly a 30 per cent clip in December to accomplish that feat. He finished the meet with 143 wins, 25 wins clear of second-place Dan Noble. On the training side of things, Ron Burke finished out the meet with 37 wins to edge out last year's training champion, Jason Brewer, by just two wins. It’s the second title for the Burke barn in the last three years. Burke's $713,455 in earnings also topped the meet.
Handle at the track increased for the fifth straight year. In 2018, all-source handle checked in at $18.3 million. This year, a new record of $33.5 million was achieved for an increase of 83 per cent over 2018 and 9.4 per cent over 2022. A Dayton single night record fell as the track handled $1.286 million on Dec. 28, just one year after setting the previous mark of $1.272 million.
Dayton Raceway would like to thank all the drivers, trainers, owners, fans, bettors and staff for helping make the 2023 meet its most successful yet.
(Dayton Raceway)