FORLOVEOFBONNIE GETS UNEXPECTED PUBLIC WORKOUTROGUES A PLOTTING BESTS FORMER BARN BUDDY

Megan Cooling FORTHELOVEOFBONNIE

The 3rd race at Mahoning Valley on Monday didn’t really happen, at least on the books. What DID happen was a rare gate malfunction where several starters in the full field of 12 got as light head start over their rivals. While the race was declared a “no contest” as far as wagering was concerned, it was still a contest on the track. Our HMDC hopeful, Forloveofbonnie seemed to spook at the haphazard flight from the gate and broke so outward from her outside post that she disappeared from the head on replay in the earlygoing.

It was an oddly run race after the beveled start, despite the fact that Forloveofbonnie was the #12 horse, she had horses racing outside of her down the backstretch. Jockey David Haldar got “Bonnie” straightened away and moving well as they entered the turn, able to navigate her to the four path and near the leaders, briefly gaining the second spot before flattening out in the final furlong. In a day peppered with scratches, it was a tough pill to swallow for Mahoning racing officials to declare the race a “no contest.”

“I believe we had 17 scratches on the day and that was our one full field,” lamented veteran Racing Secretary Ed Vomacka who put together an excellent card for “Steel Valley Day,” that once again drew talented horsemen from numerous tracks around the country. “I’ll put the race back on, but it’s tough on the trainers as their horses ran hard for that $33,700 (which is not dispersed in a no contest race) and it’s difficult to tell who will be ready to race back that soon.

On November 20, two old paddock pals of HMDC, Taste of Victory and TBC Stables made their debuts in a $31,800 maiden event. Rogues A Plotting (Dominus-Too Shy Shy-Distorted Humor), ridden by Luis Rivera Jr. and Dr. Spirito (Dominus-Love Spun-Hard Spun) with David Haldar up, broke cleanly and went right to the front with Rogues A Plotting getting the slight edge. After setting a mild pace, they were joined by the eventual winner into the stretch, and the race was on. Rouges A Plotting went head-to-head with the challenger, with Dr. Spirito starting to weary from his early effort. Rogues A Plotting held on for the second money and bragging rights over his fellow Mapleton-bred Accredited gelding

buddy.

Horse Workout Notification

November 25, 2025

Spun in Dominus (2-Year-Old Filly)

Date: November 25, 2025

Track: MAHONING VALLEY RACE COURSE

Distance: Three Furlongs

Time: 38:40 Breezing

Track Condition: Good

Surface: Dirt

Rank: 4/6