The milestone 50th season of the Ohio Sires Stakes came to a close on Sunday, Oct. 4 as Northfield Park hosted four $142,857 divisions of the Veteran Championships for four-year-olds and up. 

Drivers Chris Page and Dan Noble split the four races, scoring two wins apiece.

With Page in the sulky, Fearless Ginger recorded the fastest mile of the four divisions, taking the Veteran Mare Pace by half a length in 1:51.3. Dragon By The Sea (Tyler Smith) and Beautiful Seaside (Trevor Smith) rounded out the top three. Fearless Ginger is trained by Ron Burke for owners Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi. It was her sixth win in 22 seasonal starts and the biggest victory of her career. The five-year-old Fear The Dragon-Ginger Shark mare has hit the board in 59 of 84 lifetime starts with 25 wins and $814,400 in earnings.

The driver-trainer pairing of Page and Burke also won the Veteran Horse & Gelding Pace with defending champion Pariss Dragon, who tripped the wire in 1:52.4. Stablemate Rick Wink (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) was second but placed fifth for interference. Clever Cody (Luke Ebersole) inherited the runner-up honours and Charlie May (Noble) was placed third. Pariss Dragon is a five-year-old Fear The Dragon-Lima Ooh La La gelding owned by Burke Racing Stable, Dennis Owens, Weaver Bruscemi and Lawrence Karr. His fifth victory in 20 seasonal starts increased his career win total to 22 in 64 starts while growing his earnings to $961,974.

Noble’s victories were with Deborah Swartz trainee Abbey D and Bob Stewart trainee Hung Over.

Abbey D won the Veteran Mare Trot in 1:54.2 by 3-3/4 lengths over Jurassic Hattie (Brett Miller) and Sugar Instead (Page). It was the 10th win in 28 seasonal starts for the seven-year-old Uncle Peter-B Vs Sister mare, who is owned by Bradley Delaney. Lifetime, she has won 36 times with $727,820 in earnings from 145 starts.

Hung Over won the Veteran Horse & Gelding Trot by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:54 while Hilltop Sonar (Page) and Caviar Gold (Aaron Merriman) rounded out the top three. An Ohio champion in his sophomore season, the five-year-old Creatine-Drunkards Dream gelding is owned by Bluestone Farms and Lynda Stewart. The win was his second in 12 seasonal starts and he now has 16 victories lifetime from 53 outings with earnings totalling $905,522.

(With files from Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association; photo of Fearless Ginger winning on Oct. 4)