Six divisions of the Buckeye Stallion Series for three-year-old colt trotters were held on Friday, May 23 at Eldorado Scioto Downs. The fastest division went to Vandy Lane, who went in 1:54.3.
Parked from post three, Vandy Lane (Brett Miller) kept trotting to the front after the 27.3 opening quarter. Hitting the beam in 55.2 and 1:24.1, Vandy Lane fended off the bit by My Next Chapter (Aaron Merriman) to draw off, winning by three lengths. Full Moon Howl (Ronnie Gillespie) got up for third.
Vandy Lane is owned by David and Cody Vanderhyde and trained by Scott Cox. The homebred What The Hill colt now has three wins in 10 lifetime starts.
Other $20,000 divisions of the Buckeye Stallion Series were won by: Jet Wings (Miller) in 1:55; I Stand Alone AS (Tony Hall) in 1:57.3; Tommy Count (Trevor Smith) in 1:56; Born To Trot (Chris Page) in 1:56 and Rose Run Ari (Austin Hanners) in 1:55.1.
In other racing action Friday at Scioto, Fearless Ginger (Page) took the $36,111 Fillies and Mares Open Pace in 1:50.2 for trainer Ron Burke. The Fear The Dragon four-year-old is owned by Burke Racing and Weaver Bruscemi. A winner of 14 races from 44 lifetime starts, Fearless Ginger now has $371,339 in lifetime earnings.
The $37,500 Open Trot was won by the four-year-old mare Sugar Instead. Sam Widger left with the Virgil Morgan, Jr. trainee from post five but as horses on the outside continued to leave heading towards the :27.1 opening quarter, the pair settled in fourth. Sugar Instead was second over shortly after the half, following the cover of No Nap Nash (Dan Noble). Going three-wide around the last turn, Sugar Instead won by a length in 1:53.1 over Scottish (Aaron Merriman). Owned by Joyce McClelland Stable and Larry Wills, the Volstead mare has 23 wins in 31 lifetime starts and $1,139,448 in lifetime earnings.
Racing continues Saturday at Scioto with 16 races, eight of which are Buckeye Stallion Series divisions for 3-year-old colt pacers. The $27,000 USD Open Pace sees Seafire, driven by Beau Brown, make his first start of 2025. The 2024 #SendItIn winner is 4/1 on the morning line for trainer Brian Brown.
(with files from Scioto)