Rose Run Zoey equalled the Eldorado Scioto Downs track record for three-year-old pacing fillies on Saturday, June 22 by winning her $89,041 Ohio Sires Stakes (OHSS) division in 1:49.4.
Tyler Smith took Rose Run Zoey straight to the front but yielded to the pocket behind Wasted On You (Brett Miller) by the :26.1 opening quarter. Content to sit second along the rail, Rose Run Zoey followed while the field went to the half in :54.3. Daisys Star (Dan Noble), last year’s Ohio Sires Stakes champion, made a first-over bid going to the 1:22.2 third quarter. Midway through the last turn, Smith pulled Rose Run Zoey from the pocket and won by three-quarters of a length over Wasted On You. No Foolin April (Aaron Merriman) got up for third.
“Basically, we just couldn’t get her healthy, we were battling all kinds of problems,” said trainer Ryan Miller about her slow start to the year. “Then, she got banged up in the field and just little problem after little problem. We just tried to stay patient and not throw her in when she wasn’t ready to go…looks like we finally got her in the right direction, but it took a lot of patience.”
Rose Run Zoey, who was third in the two-year-old OHSS championships last year, has now earned $251,349 lifetime. Saturday’s win was just her third start on the year for owners Miller Racing Stable and Let It Ride Stables. By Lather Up out of the Badlands Hanover mare Cyring Games, Rose Run Zoey was bred by Rose Run Farm and sold at the Ohio Selected Yearling Sale for $34,000.
The second division was won by the streaking Seaside Diva and Chris Page in 1:51.
Bath Bomb (Smith) took the early lead as Seaside Diva sat third. Page pulled her by the :26.4 opening quarter and took the lead heading to the :55.3 half. Bad Girls Racing (Noble) was flushed out by Genetic Edge (Brett Miller) and by the 1:23.1 had taken a short lead. However, Seaside Diva fought back to take the lead and won by a length and a quarter over Naked On A Hill (Jeff Nisonger), who rolled three-wide around the last turn to finish second. Bath Bomb was third.
Seaside Diva is a perfect five-for-five on the year, including wins in the James Hackett Memorial and the first leg of the OHSS. The Ron Burke trainee has pushed her lifetime earnings to $413,779 in 16 lifetime starts with her ninth career victory. Seaside Diva, by Downbytheseaside out of the Real Desire mare Real Diva, is a homebred for Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi, Knox Services and Let It Ride Stables.
Eldorado Scioto Downs and the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association are teaming up to provide Brunch with the Babies on Monday, June 24. There are 24 qualifiers on tap, starting at 10 a.m. Brunch will be served, courtesy of Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association, starting at 12 noon on the patio. Doug Ballinger will announce the races and Jenna Otten will be doing reviews of the fields. Limited programs will be available for those on site. For those that cannot make the qualifiers live, you can view them on RTN through streaming services, such as Roku, Amazon FireStick and online at rtn.tv.
(Scioto Downs)