A pair of $50,000 Ohio Sires Stakes for three-year-old trotting fillies will be contested Friday night (July 13) at Scioto Downs.
Thirteen lucky Buckeye-bred distaffers will line up behind the starting gate in Races 1 and 3 in Round 3 of the four-leg series. First-race post time will be at 6:30 p.m. (Eastern).
The second sires stakes division (Race 3) is the most competitive, as four previous sires stakes winners will return for the four-beat slugfest. Looking like the one to beat from Post 2 is the lovely grey filly Non Smoker, a My MVP lass that is conditioned and driven by Danny Noble for Norman Rae Racing of Xenia, Ohio.
Though dainty in stature but seemingly indefatigable, Non Smoker has won both of her previous sires stakes legs (on May 4 at Miami Valley in 1:54 and on June 11 at Northfield Park in a dead-heat with California Love in 1:56.2). Bred by Stephanie Smith-Rothaug, Non Smoker has amassed $77,161 lifetime from five wins, one second and one third from 13 career starts.
Red Storm, a multiple sires stakes winner at two with career earnings of $181,935, captured Leg One of the series on May 4 at Miami Valley in 1:55.2, over the gutsy Impinktoo. She then finished third in Leg Two at Northfield when the aforementioned Non Smoker and California Love dead-heated for victory, beaten just three-quarters of a length. Owned and bred by Sandra Burnett of Wilmington, Ohio and conditioned by Chris Beaver, the chestnut daughter by Stormin Normand won both her $15,000 Hackett elimination and $40,000 final at Miami Valley in April of this year. She’ll start from Post 6 with Aaron Merriman at the controls.
Beaver will also harness California Love for partners Steve Zeehandelar of Worthington, Ohio, Marion Beachy of Sugarcreek, Ohio and Moger-Delia Racing of New Hope, PA. A winner of $98,752 in her career, the daughter by Stormin Normand has eight wins, three seconds and two thirds in 21 starts for these connections, including four triumphs this season. Marion Beachy bred the filly, who will start from Post 7 with Ronnie Wrenn Jr. at the lines.
Spunky Bottom Girl—the pride of owner Ed Teefey and his hometown hamlet of Mount Sterling, Illinois—will start from Post 4 with Tyler Smith in the sulky for trainer Brent Davis. Smith guided the My MVP lass to a sparkling 1:55.4 triumph in Leg Two of the series on June 11 at Northfield Park, after finishing a disappointing sixth in Leg One. A winner of $58,475 lifetime from four wins and four seconds in 19 starts, Spunky Bottom Girl was named after a local bluegrass band in Teefey’s hometown.
Last season’s two-year-old Ohio Sires Stakes championship winner, Impinktoo, a Manofmanymissions lass trained by Ron Burke, has finished second in both sires stakes legs to date for the Ohio trio of Joe McLead, Billy Walters and Rtk Racing. A winner of $205,290, Impinktoo has four wins, four seconds and a third from 19 career starts. She was bred by Jay Mossbarger and will host Kayne Kauffman in the bike from Post 5.
Sires Stakes Division One (Race 1) will feature an evenly-matched field of six fillies, including Looking For Zelda, a homebred owned by Robert Key of Leechburg, PA. Conditioned by Norm Parker, the daughter of Break The Bank K is the richest of these sires stakes-eligible fillies, with $275,902 in her coffers. She finished fourth and third, respectively, in her previous two sires stakes outings this season, and was a multiple winner in the series in 2018. She will be driven by regular pilot Tony Hall from Post 5.
If form means anything, than Dashanay certainly bears a nod. She is scheduled to start from Post 1 for trainer Ron Burke and driver Chris Page. By Manofmanymissions, Dashanay has won her last two starts—both Scioto Downs overnights, after having finished fifth in sires stakes Leg 2 on July 11 at Northfield. Her last effort at Scioto saw her clocked in a healthy 1:55.3. Owned by Burke Racing Stable of Fredericktown, PA and bred by New Jersey’s Michael Parisi, Dashanay has $59,600 in her bankroll.
(With files from OSDF)