While some regulars that compete in the Eldorado Scioto Downs open events were missing in action this week, there was no shortage of good horses to race in those spots. On Friday (June 7), Flemsteen narrowly took the $35,616 Open Trot in 1:52.4, while Tickertape Hanover took the $31,506 Open II Pace on Saturday (June 8) in 1:50.2.
Tony Hall sent Chase H Hanover straight to the lead Saturday in the Open II Pace and clocked fractions of :26.1, :55.3 and 1:22.3. Tyler Smith was tight on his back with Tickertape Hanover, while Burnout (Josh Sutton) made a first-over bid and kept Tickertape Hanover locked in and loaded in the pocket.
Jumping into the passing lane, the stablemates duked it out right to the wire, with Tickertape Hanover getting up to win by a neck over Chase H Hanover. Saulsbrook Genesis tipped three-wide around the last turn to get up for third.
Tickertape Hanover is a four-year-old gelded son of Huntsville out of the Well Said mare Time Saver Hanover. Owned by Odds on Racing and trainer Virgil Morgan, Jr., Tickertape Hanover now has nine lifetime wins and $233,826 in earnings.
In Friday’s Open Trot, Smoking Jet (Chris Page) left off the car to hit the opening quarter in :27 with Flemsteen (Trevor Smith) settling in. Going into the second turn, Wildfire Seelster (Jeremy Smith) flushed Flemsteen out to come first up by the :56 half. Straightening out in the backstretch, Smoking Jet went off stride, but Flemsteen was still parked, just a half-length in front of Iwont Backdown AS (Tony Hall) who was sitting in the pocket.
By the 1:24.1 three-quarters, Iwont Backdown AS put his head in front and through the turn, seemed to have put away Flemsteen. However, the two battled down the stretch, with Flemsteen winning by a head. Rose Run Valor (Kayne Kauffman) finished just a half-length back in third.
Flemsteen is trained by Chris Beaver, who owns the six-year-old gelded son of Explosive Matter with Bill Manes and R.B.H. Ventures. The win on Friday was Flemsteen’s 23rd of his career and fourth on the year, which pushed his seasonal earnings to $139,396 in 15 starts.
In anticipation of the influx of two-year-olds getting ready, qualifiers will move to Mondays at Eldorado Scioto Downs starting June 10. There are 15 qualifiers carded starting at 12:00 p.m., with nine dedicated to the freshmen class.
All Scioto qualifiers are available on RTN through streaming services, such as Roku, Amazon FireStick and online at rtn.tv. Program pages are also available for each qualifier, and live racing program, on the Scioto Downs website.
On Monday, June 24 Scioto and the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association will host Brunch with the Babies, providing food and drinks for those in attendance.
The 90-day 2024 Eldorado Scioto Downs race meet runs through Saturday, September 14. Races are held Tuesday-Saturday with a first post of 5:45 p.m. each day, except for Thursday, July 4th with a post of 3:15 p.m. and Friday, September 13 which will have a 6:15 p.m. post to help accommodate horsemen attending the Ohio Selected Yearling Sale.
(With files from Eldorado Scioto Downs)