The second leg of the Darryl Sherman Pace and Dr. Al Gabel Trot were held on Wednesday, June 25 at Eldorado Scioto Downs.
Offspring of Long Tom swept the two $21,918 divisions of the Gabel, with Scrappys Love and Stud Muffin T taking their races in 1:53.1 and 1:55.4, respectively.
Driven by Dan Noble for trainer Chris Beaver, Scrappys Love won by 2-1/4 lengths over another Long Tom colt, Illegally Funded (Kayne Kauffman). The three-year-old owned by Gil Short LLC and Jeff Bankey has earned four victories in 15 lifetime starts.
Stud Muffin T, driven by Trevor Smith for Jeff Smith, took his race by three-quarters of a length over Power Hill (Noble). The TD Trot LLC homebred broke his maiden in his 18th lifetime start.
Twice As Much (Tyler Smith) took the first division of the Darryl Sherman in 1:51.1 for trainer Logan Rowe, winning by 1-1/4 lengths over Ferguson (Luke Hanners). Owned by Matt Rowe, the son of Mr Apples now has six wins in 18 lifetime starts.
Southern Rockfest, by Pet Rock, took the other Sherman division in 1:51.2 by 1-3/4 lengths over Terror Train (Chris Page) for trainer Bret Schwartz, who co-owns with Brian Larrick. Luke Hanners drove Southern Rockfest to his fourth career win from 19 starts.
The $32,000 USD (est.) finals for both the Sherman and Gabel, which were written for Ohio-sired horses and geldings who were non-winners of two, will be held on Tuesday, July 15.
Racing continues Thursday, June 26 and Friday, June 27, with a first post of 5:52 p.m. Race seven on Saturday will be the $30,000 USD Carols Comet Pace for Ohio-sired three-year-olds who are winners over $75,000 USD lifetime. The race is named after one of the local favourite Ohio-sired horses, who last stepped foot onto the Scioto track in September of 2015. Carols Comet will once again come back to the Columbus oval to meet fans and lead the post parade for the series final. Saturday’s card will not only have 13 harness races, but Scioto will also host its third annual Wiener Dog Races.
(With files from Scioto Downs)