After a nearly hour-long delay due to thunderstorms earlier on the card, four $140,845 Grade 3 events featuring Grand Circuit competitors were held over a sloppy track at Scioto Downs on Saturday, July 18.

Topville Lucky and driver Andrew McCarthy came out on top in a mad dash to the wire in the Nadia Lobell for three-year-old pacing fillies.

Im A Lou Lou and Tim Tetrick went to the lead midway through the first turn and set the fractions of :27, :55.4 and 1:23. Topville Lucky got the second-over tow behind Sangria Summer (Brett Miller) and was perched in fourth at three-quarters. Five horses fanned out for the drive at the top of the stretch with Sangria Summer the one to catch. Topville Lucky, widest of all, finished in :26.4 to get up for her first victory of the season by a quarter-length in 1:50.2. Sangria Summer was second with Shacarri (Chris Page) coming up the passing lane to be third.

“I’ve watched this mare race a lot; she’s got a lot of high speed if the trip works out,” said McCarthy after the race. “I was just lucky enough to get a decent trip in there, and she did her job in the stretch.”

Topville Lucky, a daughter of Sweet Lou-Warrawee Winx, is seven-for-10 lifetime after winning for the first time in three attempts at three. The Andrew Harris trainee, owned by Punisher 11 Stable LLC, won the Kentucky Championship Series final last season and has now earned $585,264. She paid $14 to win.

Victorianas Secret was victorious in the Moni Maker for three-year-old trotting fillies as Ronnie Wrenn, Jr. took her to the top to win by open lengths in 1:52.4.

The Vernon Beachy trainee hustled to the front nearing a :28.2 quarter, posted :56.3 and 1:24.4 middle panels, and Wrenn sat comfortably through the stretch, guiding Victorianas Secret under a hand drive to win by 3-1/4 lengths. Ginger Tree Lex (McCarthy) came second-over to get up for second, while Faster Horses (Yannick Gingras) was third. 

Victorianas Secret, by Tactical Landing out of Victoriana, now has six wins in 14 lifetime starts and $338,287 in earnings for owner Ryan Smith. The 1:52.4 mile, which upped her seasonal record to four-for-five, is a new lifetime mark. She went off as the 1-2 favourite and paid $3 to win.

David Miller picked up the drive behind two-time Dan Patch Award winner Miki And Minnie, and the pair powered by down the stretch to win the Cleopatra Invitational for pacing mares in 1:48.3.

No Foolin April (Brett Miller) sprinted off the car from post seven to make the early lead, but Austin Hanners was not content to sit in the pocket with Always B Naughty and sent her to the top past a :26 opener. Always B Naughty set fractions of :54 and 1:21.1 while Miki And Minnie came second-over behind Three Times Bettor (Chris Page) from fifth. Miki And Minnie moved off the helmet at the top of the lane and streaked to a 2-1/4-length victory over Louies Girl N (Yannick Gingras), who closed from eighth. Three Times Bettor was third.

Miki And Minnie, a four-year-old mare by Always B Miki-Thats The Ticket, earned divisional Dan Patch honours at two and three and is five-for-seven this season. Chris Ryder trains her for owner-breeders Craig Henderson, Robert Mondillo and Lawrence Minowitz. Saturday’s win was her 24th in 33 lifetime starts and pushed her earnings to $3,117,093. She went off as the 1-5 favourite and paid $2.60 to win. 

Lou Hill proved best in the last of the Grade 3 events, the #SendItIn Invitational for pacers, winning by a length in 1:48.2.

Parked to the :26.3 opening quarter, Lou Hill made the front for Yannick Gingras and proceeded to lead to the midway point in :54.3. Prince Hal Hanover (David Miller) was flushed out from fourth before the half and poured on the pressure to Lou Hill to the 1:21.2 three-quarters and through the last turn. Lou Hill repelled Prince Hal Hanover coming into the stretch and resisted inside attacker Dandy Ideal (Chris Page) down the lane for the victory. Prince Hal Hanover re-fired to take second in a blanket finish over Best Chip (Tim Tetrick).

Lou Hill, winner of the William R. Haughton Memorial and Camluck Classic this year, is now nine-for-14 on the season for trainer Per Engblom and owner-breeder Tom Hill. The Sweet Lou-Pretty Katherine gelding has compiled a record of 22 wins from 53 career starts and $897,581 in earnings. He paid $5 to win.

Trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. tripled on the undercard, posting wins in both Open events and a Buckeye Stallion Series (BSS) division. Women Layer ($3.20) made two moves to the front for Luke Hanners and held off Rick Wink (Chris Page) by three-quarters of a length to capture the $36,620 Horses and Geldings Open Pace. Funtime Bayama (Andrew McCarthy) was third. Women Layer scored his fourth win of the year from seven attempts for owners Let It Ride Stables Inc., Jeff Fought Racing, Larry Wills and Jesmeral Stable. The five-year-old Sweet Lou-Loreenas Ruffian gelding is now 29-for-46 lifetime.

Twisted Destiny ($2.60) was Morgan's first winner as he took the $28,169 Horses and Geldings Open II Pace in 1:50.2. Morgan also won one of three $28,169 BSS divisions for three-year-old male trotters with Zane Trace ($6.60), who stopped the clock in 1:54.1. Luke Hanners was in the bike for both victories. Morgan, the leading trainer at Scioto for the past 31 years, is well clear in this season's standings, 42 wins ahead of Ron Burke.

The other sophomore trotting male BSS winners were Ready For Pictures ($8.40), who rallied to a narrow win for driver Marvin Luna and trainer Tabatha De Long in 1:54.3, and defending Ohio Sires Stakes champion Big Ranger ($2.10), who crushed the field in 1:51.4 with Tim Tetrick aboard for Anette Lorentzon. There were also three divisions for three-year-old filly trotters, won by Chasingstardust As ($15.40) in 1:54.2 for Chris Page and Lorentzon, Dublins Breanna ($2.20) in 1:55.3 with Ronnie Wrenn Jr. driving for Beachy, and Flirtin Tomi ($27.60), a 1:55.2 winner for Marvin Luna and Herman Hagerman.

Racing will continue at Scioto on Tuesday with a 13-race card.

(With files from Scioto Downs)