Austin Hanners got his 1,000th career driving victory as he won the third race at Eldorado Scioto Downs on Friday, July 3 with Regal Idea.

Hanners rallied Regal Idea three-wide off cover rounding the final turn, and the five-year-old American Ideal-Regal Wish gelding sprinted down the lane to trip the beam in 1:52.1 for trainer Michael Hitchock and owner William Hartt. National Tier (Brett Miller) was second by a length in the $25,000 conditioned event, with D A Love Boat (Chris Page) third.

Hanners debuted as a driver at the Fayette County Fair in Washington Court House, Ohio 10 years ago and finished second with Rehab Mountain. His first lifetime victory came behind that same horse eight starts later at the Mercer County Fair in Celina, Ohio. His first pari-mutuel driving win was at Scioto with Perma Grin in August 2017.

“I used to be very timid, and I would say I’ve gotten a lot more aggressive,” said the 27-year-old Hanners. “Hopefully I can do some more, but you have to get to 1,000 before you can get anywhere else so it means a lot (to get here).”

During his 10-year racing career, Hanners has 12,429 starts with $20.4 million in purse earnings. Horses he has driven have earned north of $3.2 million each year since 2023. His biggest purse victories were in the 2025 Breeders Crown Aged Mare Pace with Always B Naughty at Woodbine Mohawk Park and behind Jailhouse Pearl in the Ohio Sires Stakes Championship at Dayton Raceway last year.

The latter mare also recorded a major achievement on Friday's card as she equalled the Scioto record for a four-year-old trotting distaff.

Bestfriend Volo (Sam Widger) set early fractions of :26.4 and :54.4 as Jailhouse Pearl got the pocket trip in the $20,714 optional-claiming event. The leader put some separation between himself and the field by the half, but Jailhouse Pearl was on his helmet at the 1:22.2 three-quarters, and Brett Miller proceeded to pull the mare to the outside. Jailhouse Pearl made the lead midway through the last turn and trotted home in :28.3 to win by 2-1/2 lengths in 1:51.2. Abbey D (Luke Hanners) closed for second while Bestfriend Volo (Sam Widger) finished third.

The record of 1:51.2 was previously set in 2025 by Jurassic Hattie, also driven by Miller.

Jailhouse Pearl, the 2025 Ohio Three-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year, is trained by Eric Nesselroad for owner/breeder Casey Clemens. By Long Tom out of the Jailhouse Jesse mare Jailhouse Broad, Jailhouse Pearl now has $551,649 earned with 17 wins in 36 lifetime starts. Friday’s victory established a new lifetime mark for her by a second. She paid $8.20 to win.

Hecandancencruise took his sixth straight victory in a $15,714 starter allowance in the 14th race on the card. The 1-9 choice went two-wide into the first turn for driver Chris Page and was circled by outside starter Call Him Rocky (Trevor Smith), then went on to the lead past the quarter in :27.2. He was determined to keep command from there, parking Big Kiz (Sam Widger) through the half in :55.3 and three-quarters in 1:23.3. The first-up challenger waned on the final turn, and Hecandancencruise found no further opposition as he waltzed to the wire a 2-3/4-length winner in 1:52. Call Him Rocky took second, with Street Beats (Luke Hanners) completing the ticket.

Hecandancencruise started his win streak for trainer Brian Tatham and has rolled on since moving to the barn of Waylon Eubank when claimed on June 2. Now owned by Patrick Meldon, Brian Younkin and Eubank, he is seven-for-11 this season. The seven-year-old son of A Rocknroll Dance-She Can Cruise collected his 29th career win in 111 starts and upped his earnings to $319,511. He paid $2.20 to win.

Racing continues at Scioto on Saturday, July 4 with the highly anticipated $150,000 USD Next Generation events for Ohio-sired freshmen going postward. Going off as Races 10-13, the two-year-old races will be featured on Fox Sports TV, with Scioto’s own Jenna Otten providing trackside coverage.

Also on tap during Saturday’s 16-race card are six Ohio Sires Stakes races for three-year-old fillies of each gait. First post is 5:25 p.m.

(With files from Scioto Downs)