New track and national season records were set in both the three-year-old colt trotting and pacing divisions of Ohio Sires Stakes on Sunday afternoon, May 6 at Miami Valley Raceway.
A total of 22 trotters and 29 pacers went postward in six $40,000 divisions in leg one of OHSS competition that saw the races held up an hour at one point in the program due to thunderstorms.
Gary and Barbara Iles’ Lather Up, trained by Brenda Teague and driven by her nephew, Montrell Teague, set a new Miami Valley track record and set a national season’s mark for a three-year-old colt on a five-eighth’s mile oval when he paced to a winning 1:50 mile in the third OHSS division for pacing sophomores.
The bay homebred son of Im Gorgeous used wire-to-wire tactics, leaving smartly from the eight-hole at odds of 8-1 to sail through fractions of :27.1, :56, 1:22.2 before cruising home a full two and a half lengths in front of 6-5 Sectionline Bigry (Tyler Smith) and 3-1 Rockathon (Dan Noble).
Lather Up pushed his career earnings to $102,600 with the triumph, the sixth of his career in nine starts. The Pepsi North America Cup eligible colt is now two-for-two in 2018.
Mission Accepted was equally impressive among his diagonally-gaited rivals, stopping the timer in a new track record and setting a national season’s mark of 1:53 for three-year-old trotting colts on a five-eighths mile oval in the second OHSS division for trotting sophomores.
Trained and co-owned by Jeff Conger, along with Knox Services of Mt. Vernon, Ohio (which also bred the colt) and David Wills of Newark, Ohio, the son of Manofmanymissions was an easy 2-5 winner for Ryan Stahl. The bay colt finished four lengths ahead of rivals 7-2 Pass The Vape (Derek Watiker) and 7-1 Uncle Buck (Trace Tetrick), who was eight and a half lengths back.
The victory gave Mission Accepted his sixth career victory in nine starts and pushed his seasonal earnings to $45,000 and his career bankroll to $235,800. He is now two-for-two this season as well, having taken a $50,000 Scarlet & Gray division on April 28 at Miami Valley.
Sultan Of Cash captured the first OHSS trotting division as the 2-1 favourite with Ronnie Wrenn Jr. in the sulky, in a respectable 1:56. Trained and owned by Roger Hughes Jr., the Cash Hall son bested rivals 9-2 MVP Luke (Dan Noble) and 16-1 Get The Cash (Greg Grismore).
The victory pushed Sultan Of Cash’s career earnings to $172,765 and his seasonal monies to $46,250. He now has eight victories in 12 career starts.
The third OHSS division for trotters saw Northmedo Mission prevail in a healthy new lifetime mark of 1:56.3 for driver Danny Noble. Trained by Mike Medors for the Northmedo Stable of Painesville, Ohio, the altered son of Manofmanymissions raced close up throughout the mile and went on to score a three and one-quarter length triumph over 8-5 favourite Two O B Wonkenobi (Sammy Widger) after snatching the lead at the 1:27 three-quarter mile marker. Magic MVP, a 23-1 longshot, was third for Ronnie Wrenn Jr.
From 14 career starts and six wins, the homebred Northmedo Mission now has $35,728 in his coffers.
Rockn Motion and driver Danny Noble took advantage of the rail slot in the first OHSS pacing division to score as the public’s 5-2 choice in 1:51.1. Trained by Jim Dailey for breeder/owner Ronald Mersky of Paris, Kentucky, the bay son of Pet Rock made a dramatic, three-wide move at the three-quarter pole to brush home in the stretch and best rivals 10-1 Seeing Eye Single (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) and 5-1 Slick Mick (Ryan Stahl).
Unraced as a two-year-old, Rockn Motion now has four wins and a second in eight starts, with $39,625 in his wallet. The 1:51.1 effort was a new life mark for the rangy colt.
Favourite (4-5) Bounding Dragon won the second OHSS division for pacing colts in 1:53, with a perfect steer by driver Josh Sutton. Trained by Mike Roth for Alan Keith of Johnstown, Ohio and Carl and Melanie Atley of Xenia, Ohio, the brown Dragon Again colt used a second-over trip until the stretch, when he paced to a two and a half length victory over 6-1 Sip And A Bite (Montrell Teague). Longshot (54-1) Oberlin was third with Kyle Ater in the sulky.
Bounding Dragon, who was bred by Ohio’s Emerald Highland Farm and New York’s J&T Silva Stables, now has career earnings of $111,159 and seasonal earnings of $39,750, with four wins in 13 lifetime starts.
Leg two of this series for sophomores will be as follows: June 2 at Northfield Park for three-year-old pacing fillies; June 9 at Scioto Downs for three-year-old pacing colts; June 11 at Northfield Park for three-year-old trotting fillies; and June 15 at Scioto Downs for three-year-old trotting colts.
(With files from OSDF)