Tricky Escape took care of business in Thursday’s $360,000 Ramsey Farm Stakes for fillies and mares at Franklin’s Kentucky Downs, beating Mom’s On Strike by a head in the 1 5/16-mile race.

Staged on the final day of the 2018 Kentucky Downs meeting, Ken Ramsey didn’t have a horse in the race he sponsors — having scratched his entrant Daring Duchess — but nevertheless claimed a seventh straight owner’s title and ninth overall.

Tricky Escape benefitted from Chris DeCarlo’s tricky ride to edge the favored Mom’s On Strike.

DeCarlo gunned to the lead with Tricky Escape and stayed there around the narrow first turn, up the backstretch and around the sweeping far turn. Tricky Escape appeared to be wilting a bit with a mile gone in 1:42.11. Res Ipsa stuck her head in front with the stretch drive in front of the field, and Creative Thinking and Sea Swift were right there, too, followed by Mom’s on Strike, who was 10th and last after six furlongs, then Tricky Escape.

Tricky Escape wasn’t done, though she looked beaten as she was second to Mom’s on Strike by a length with a furlong left in the race.

“I think she knows where the wire is,” DeCarlo said in a news release. “The plan wasn’t to be in front. But I didn’t want to take a lot of energy out of her by trying to wrangle her back. She got clear a little bit, she kind of relaxed, and I just rode the race from there and waited as long as I could.”

Res Ipsa finished third, beaten by 3 1/4 lengths, followed another 2 1/4 lengths back by Coco Channel.

Franklin-Simpson Stakes

Angaston put in a gritty stretch run from off the pace to win the $300,000, 6 1/2-furlong Franklin-Simpson Stakes sponsored by Franklin Bank & Trust by a neck over Majestic Dunhill in the closing day’s co-feature.

With jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr. up for trainer Lon Wiggins and owner Jim Jankiewicz’s Twin Magnolia Farm, Angaston won for the fifth time in his career. It was the gelding’s first stakes win.

Shangroyal and Jose Ortiz went straight to the front in the Franklin-Simpson and set fractions of 23.10 seconds for the first quarter-mile and 47.20 for the half. Angaston bided his time in fifth, then fourth position while five wide but only 1 1/2 lengths off the pace with the first half-mile in the books. He caught Shangroyal at the furlong marker only to be confronted by Majestic Dunhill, who was ninth of 11 early on. Angaston dug in to prevail by a neck.

“The horse made the trip easy on us,” Hernandez said. “He broke alertly and from the outside we were able to just kind of get over be only about three wide on the turn. The nice thing about him is that he travels well and was always there for me. When the question was asked, he ran on through the wire for us.”

Kentucky Downs smashed its handle record for the sixth straight year, with a total of $36,421,722 wagered on the five-date meet. All-sources betting of $7,021,553 on Thursday was a record for the closing card.

The total tops by 20 percent last year’s $30,246,888. Consider that Kentucky Downs set a betting record in 2013 of $12,814,891. That number has almost tripled in the intervening five years.

“Hats off to Kentucky Downs,” said Mike Maker, who won his fourth straight track trainer’s title. “They’ve done a fabulous job.”

Maker won his latest crown by a 9-4 margin in wins over Mark Casse. Ken and Sarah Ramsey, one of his major clients, earned their seventh straight owner’s title and ninth overall with three wins, besting the two apiece for Three Diamonds Farm, Calumet Farm, DARRS Inc. and Woodford Racing Inc. Maker also trains for Three Diamonds. Jose Ortiz, riding frequently for Maker, the Ramseys and Three Diamonds, earned his first Kentucky Downs riding title nine wins to seven over 2017 champion Julien Leparoux.

Kentucky Downs shatters betting mark

Kentucky Downs registered its highest betting day ever when $10,039,008 was wagered Saturday. It also recorded its third-highest ever when $7,313,857 was bet Wednesday on the card postponed from Sunday after significant rain hit the region.

A record $10,233,665.60 was paid out to horsemen in purses and Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund monies, up from the then-record $8,625,396 last year. Even with the unprecedented betting levels, much of the purse money is generated from Kentucky Downs’ historical horse racing gaming operation. That purse money doesn’t include an additional $2.9 million sent in purses to Ellis Park and $500,000 apiece to Keeneland and Churchill Downs in an agreement with the Kentucky HBPA, which represents owners and tracks at the state’s five tracks.

Kentucky Downs figures to retain its leadership for having America’s largest fields at 11.04 horses per race this meet with 552 starters for 50 races, up from last year’s nation-leading 10.44 per race. The previous record was the 10.96 horses per race in 2016.