The rain came halfway through the race card but it didn’t dampen the spirits of the fans that came to watch and bet on the races, nor the horsemen that were racing Ohio Sires Stakes two-year-old fillies at Scioto Downs Racino on the fourth of July.
Chris Page was smoking right off the bat, winning the first four races on the day, the first three of which were Sire Stakes events. In the first race, for pacers, he steered Crown Time Keeper (Feelin Friskie - Crowntime Noreturn) for trainer Steve Carter and owner Esther Crownover to victory in 1:57.3.
“This filly’s been good from day one,” said Page. “She’s done everything right. Hats off to Steve, he’s done a great job with this filly.
“She did it in hand today,” he continued. “Mike Conklin’s filly (Paydaze On The Way) raced real good, she was a hard-charging second. Looks like a good year of racing.”
Page didn’t take time to relax when he won the second race with Virgil Morgan, Jr.’s In The Grippers. The trotting filly won her Sire Stakes event in 2:04 after sitting third for the first half of the mile. Herres Stables LLC owns In The Grippers (Steven One - Over Baked). Hush Hush Chip (Chip Noble) beat out Cookie N Ice Cream (Greg Grismore) for second.
“She’s a little tough to handle, she’s a little hard in the mouth,” said Morgan. “She’s kind of needed some kitten gloves but she’s starting to mature a little bit and she was good today.
“I have two trotting fillies and I really didn’t want the same driver on both,” he explained on why he chose Page to drive. “So I got Chris to drive this one and Dan Noble on the other and thought that would be a good option for both of those fillies.”
His third and final Sire Stakes victory was with Rose Run Princess. Page got Devan Miller her first Sire Stakes training win when he went across the wire first with the daughter of Trainforthefuture - Cinder Char in 2:02.4. Emilenes Future (Ray Paver) was just three-quarters of a length back while Big V’s Lil Girl (Dan Noble) was third. Rose Run Princess is owned by James Keller and Jerry Bell.
The filly’s first official start was at the Circleville fair on June 16 and then she went for two qualifiers before making this Sire Stakes start.
“It’s a little less pressure at the fairs because you don’t have to be on the gate,” explained Miller after the race. “You can take your time with them - it’s a learning experience.”
The last two $30,000 divisions of the Sire Stakes were contested on a track deemed sloppy by racing officials. Iron Princess (Iron Duke - Kiwi Song) and driver Greg Grismore won the last trotting division for trainer Ron Randall in 2:04.3. Brad Hanners drove Fayco Filly (Dave Panlone - Miss Titletown) to the winner’s circle for trainer John Ackley in 1:59.4.
Racing continues at Scioto on Saturday, July 6 for the USTA’s Back to the Track nationwide event. Activities at the track include a driver/trainer dunk tank (with proceeds going to the Children’s Hunger Alliance), a “Hometowners vs Invaders” race as well as stick horse races, “Greet a Steed”, balloon twisters, skydiver meteor shower show, t-shirt and hat give-a-ways as well as Harness Racing Bingo.
Racing action includes Sire Stakes for three-year-old filly trotters and pacers, three Open events, including one for trotters and the second Invitational race in as many weeks for pacers.
(Scioto Downs)