Dougie D Oro Takes Honey Jay Stakes At Thistledown

Dougie D Oro scored an impressive 1:09.62 victory in the 33rd running of the $100,000 Best of Ohio Honey Jay Stakes for Ohio-registered runners, 3-year-olds and up. The chocolate brown son of Mio d'Oro sprinted from the gate as the 7-2 choice for rider Ricardo Feliciano and trainer-owner Jerry Sparks and used come-from-behind tactics to notch his sixth career win.

“It worked out well for us today and I owe a lot to (jockey) Ricardo Feliciano,” Sparks admitted. “I felt the horse had the ability and had earned his way into this stake.”

Dougie D Oro bested 5-2 rival Nick Can Fix (Indel Beato), with 8-1 Liberate (Malcolm Franklin) third and 4-1 Altissimo (Erik Barbaran) fourth.

“I've always been impressed by this horse,” Feliciano stated in the winner's circle. “He was really strong today.”

Dougie D Oro upped his lifetime earnings to $159,315 with his first stakes triumph. It was the 5-year-old gelding's third consecutive victory this season, with his last two coming in the allowance ranks at this same racetrack.