First Dude moved within one victory of 100 for the year when Winking At Thedude scored at a flat mile yesterday over a track labeled ‘good’ at Mahoning Valley.

The 5-year-old gelding bred by Dee-Ellen Cook and Suzette Parker is also just one victory behind Khozan for that title with seven racing days remaining, but the son of Stephen Got Even has 64 individual winners, and an insurmountable lead of nine in that category.

Erik Barbaran settled Winking At Thedude in third place on the inside down the backstretch, then swung wide on the turn to go after the leaders. In the stretch, he held off The Lone Roo by a head and raised his record to 4-9-4 in 26 starts. The $6,448 winner’s check increased his earnings to $173,523.