Hungry Lizzo and Spitfire Oversees started the weekend off right at Eldorado Scioto Downs with Little Rocket Man capping off a great third weekend in the Open events at the south Columbus, Ohio oval.

in the $36,986 Open Pace on Saturday, May 25, Carbine (Austin Hanners) left out of the eight-hole and went straight to the front during a :25.4 opening quarter. Little Rocket Man (Jeremy Smith) settled in fifth from post nine and went first up before the :54.2 half. By the 1:21.4 third quarter mark, Little Rocket Man was challenging Carbine and the pair duked it out down the stretch with Little Rocket Man prevailing by a half length to win in 1:49. Carbine was second with Makin Some Noise (Tony Hall) finishing third.

Little Rocket Man (pictured above) is trained by Ken Rucker for owners Russell Beeman and Jack Freeman. A back-to-back Open winner at Scioto, the nine-year-old gelded son of Rockin Image now has four wins in six seasonal starts and 58 career victories with earnings just shy of $1.2 million.

Hungry Lizzo (Jeremy Smith) won Friday's $35,616 Fllies and Mares Open Pace in 1:51.4 and trainer Deb Swartz. Pocket-sitter Prosecco Princess (Tony Hall) finished second while Alexa Skye (Dan Noble), who set early fractions of :26.3, :56.2 and 1:24, held on for third. Brad Delaney owns the four-year-old daughter of Stay Hungry.

Spitfire Oversees was a repeat winner in the $35,616 Open Trot, contested on Friday at Scioto, scoring in 1:51.3. Flemsteen (Tyler Smith) finished just a length back, with Scorecard Dan (Sam Widger) getting up for third. Stacy Van Huizen trains the four-year-old ridgling by International Moni for Thestable Spitfireovrsees. 

Wagering at Scioto continues to increase, with more than $2.3 million USD more wagered in the first 13 days of the racing season compared to the 2023 season. And while the box continues to be full, allowing Scioto to card 16 races a day, the overwhelming entries has subsided.

Scioto has a special Memorial Day card on Monday, May 27 with a scheduled post time of 5:45 p.m. Dubbed a free family-fun night, there will be inflatables and food trucks to complement the live racing program. The $30,000 USD finals of the Overcomer trot and the Nobleland Sam and Falcon Almahurst paces headline the card. All three series were for Buckeye Stallion Series eligible horses who did not race in the first leg of the Ohio Sires Stakes. Before the race card, there will be six qualifiers starting at 3:45 p.m. Free program pages are available on the Scioto Downs website for all live race cards, including qualifiers.

(With files from Scioto Downs)