On a warm Thursday night with temperatures in the 20s and Rosecroft horsemen upgrading their stock, it was no surprise that the card on March 23 turned out the way it did.
Apple Valley Art took a new lifetime mark of 1:52.4 and claimed top honours in the second preliminary round of the Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings on Thursday at Dover Downs.
The winner of the Harrington DSBF series earlier in the season, Apple Valley Art ($4.20) scored decisively in the second of two $20,000 divisions. Tim Tetrick brushed Apple Valley Art to the lead with a lap to go, and the pair repelled a first-over challenge from eventual third-place finisher Leonards Legacy before evading a three-wide push from runner-up Elite Retreat by 1-1/2 lengths. Jim King, Jr. trains the son of Artzina and Shake Away for owner-breeder Jo Ann Looney-King.