[15thRegionCrazy]

PRESTONSBURG – The sound of fast-paced hoofbeats returned to the Mountains Sunday evening at Thunder Ridge. The track condition was good, the weather beautiful, and horses were plentiful for the season-opener. Local driver-trainer James Stiltner of Van Lear proved to have his horses razor-sharp as he racked up four wins and a third-place finish in impressive fashion. In the first race, Stiltner romped to a 16-lengths victory with his three-year old colt Coutege. Stiltner drove Ron Fairchild’s four-year old mare Thatillbesweet to the evening’s fastest mile in a quick 158.1. Stiltner’s other wins came with Union Jet and the featured Open Pace race winner Napa’s Jokester. As many of the horses at Thunder Ridge raced at Bluegrass Downs in Paducah, Stiltner chose a different route by preparing his stable by racing at Lebanon Raceway in Ohio.

Live racing at Thunder Ridge will resume Wednesday, May 27 at 6:30 p.m. There will also be racing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week. Live racing action will continue through July 11. Admission is free. To view entries and results of Thunder Ridge and all other harness tracks go to http://www.ustrotting.com then click on entries/results and select the day in which you wish to view.

Eddie Blair covers harness racing for The Times. To contact him, send an email to [email=fastpace_01@yahoo.com]fastpace_01@yahoo.com[/email]

http://floydcountytimes.com/pages/full_s...olumn&open=&

[Ring'Em Up]

I vote Fairchild as owner of the year.

:Cheerlead

[15thRegionCrazy]

Here's a picture of Thatillbsweet winning with drive James Stiltner...