Five divisions of Ohio Sires Stakes for two-year-olds were held at Eldorado Scioto Downs on Saturday, July 13. Three divisions of colts went for $68,493 while two divisions of fillies went for $89,041 each. Trainer Ron Burke teamed up with driver Chris Page to win four of the five events.
Two of the winners won The Next Generation last weekend and stayed a perfect two-for-two in lifetime starts.
The Word Is Out won her split in 1:55.3. Queen Of Fear (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) took the early lead towards the :28.4 opening quarter. Not content to sit in the pocket, Page pulled The Word Is Out and they tripped the beam in :58.4 and 1:28.3 before pulling off the victory by three-quarters of a length. Queen Of Fear was a close second with Prolific Fire (Brett Miller) getting up for third. The Word Is Out was a $24,000 Ohio Selected Yearling Sale purchase and in her two lifetime starts has $147,261 in earnings. The Well Said filly is owned by Burke Racing, Knox Services, Beasty and R A S Racing.
Swingtown (pictured above), the other Next Generation winner, took his Sires Stakes event in 1:52.1. Copper Penny (Wrenn Jr.) took the field to the :27.3 quarter and :57.2 half. Page pulled Swingtown going down the backside but by the 1:24.4 third quarter was still four lengths off. The Downbytheseaside colt powered home in :26.3 to win under a hand drive by three-quarters of a length over Copper Penny. Whatcagonnado (Aaron Merriman) went three-wide around the last turn to get up for third. Swingtown is owned by Burke Racing, Hatfield Stables, Knox Services and R A S Racing.
Burke and Page teamed up to sweep the colt divisions by winning with Sippinonsearoc and Rick Wink.
In the first division of colts, Spiritshappyending (Tyler Smith) took the early lead from post four, but yielded to Fabio Hanover (Wrenn Jr.) by the :28 quarter. Page pulled Sippinonsearoc before going under the line for the first time and comfortably made the front before the :56 half. They hit the three-quarters in 1:24.2 and won by 2-3/4 lengths in 1:52.3. Spiritshappyending came back to finish second but was placed to fourth for going inside the passing lane too early. Fabio Hanover was third placed second, with Bars And Notes (Austin Hanners) fourth placed third. Sippinonsearoc, by Downbytheseaside, was a $77,000 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale purchase and is owned by Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi, R A S Racing and Knox Services.
Pants On Fire (Wrenn Jr.) left sharply from post eight in his division to catch the early top spot. Page had Rick Wink out and moving from the four-hole just as the field hit the :27.2 opening quarter. The duo took the lead going under the wire for the first time and hit the half in "56 and three-quarters in 1:24.3. Pants On Fire came out of the two-hole and was charging hard, but came up a nose short in the 1:52.1 mile. Cruisinoverfire (Smith) finished third. Rick Wink, by Bit Of A Legend N, was a $27,000 Ohio Selected Yearling Sale purchase and is owned by Burke Racing, R A S Racing, Knox Services, J&T Silver-Purnel & Libby.
The lone non-Burke trainee to win a Sires Stakes event on Saturday was Odds On Hialeah, who took the first filly division in 1:52.2. Goodnight Dance (Wrenn Jr.) left off the gate from post four to take the early lead. Sea Her Rule (Merriman) went wide around the first turn and just made the top at the :27 quarter. Just at the :56 half, Downthejerseyshore (Luke Hanners) went first-up with Odds On Hialeah (Brett Miller) moving second-over. By the 1:24.3 third quarter, Downthejerseyshore had a nose in front, but around the last turn, Odds On Hialeah went three-wide and took off to win by an impressive 7-1/4-length margin. Witching Blue Chip (Trevor Smith) got up for second with Rose Run Ashlee (Page) finishing third. Odds On Hialeah is owned by Odds On Racing and trained by Virgil Morgan Jr. The Lather Up filly prepped with two qualifiers and a maiden-breaking 1:54.4 win on July 5.
Morgan Jr. also picked up a Saturday score as Carbine took the $35,616 Open Pace in a sizzling 1:48.4 mile.
Austin Hanners took Carbine straight to the front from post six to a torrid opening quarter of :25.2. They tripped the beam in :53.3 and 1:21 before coming home in :27.4 to win by three-quarters of a length. Going into the second turn, Let It Ride N (Kayne Kauffman) had pulled first-up and by the three-quarter pole was lapped on to the leader. Stars Align A (Trevor Smith) was second-over and pulled three-wide, which made Artatac A (Dan Noble) go four-wide around the last turn. With the momentum in his favour, Artatac A closed in :27.1 to finish second. Gold Digger King (Tyler Smith) rode the rail and was sitting last at the top of the stretch, but came up the passing lane to finish third.
Carbine is now 11-for-20 on the year and 31-for-82 lifetime, with $655,292 in earnings. In his last nine starts, he has finished off the board only one time, which was a fourth-place finish in the Battle of Lake Erie. Morgan Jr. trains the six-year-old son of Somebeachsomewhere for Odds On Racing.
Scioto’s Friday card featured the $36,986 Open for trotters and matching distaff pace. Both Adamsville Road and High Flyin Filly captured their 20th lifetime victory with their respective wins.
Adamsville Road (Luke Hanners) won the top trot in 1:52 after getting the pocket trip behind the mare Refined (Noble). Refined set fractions of :27, :55.4 and 1:23.3 before getting nipped at the wire. Adamsville Road pulled out of the pocket coming around the last turn to win by three-quarters of a length. After a first-over grind, Flemsteen (Tyler Smith) finished third.
Adamsville Road is trained by John Ryan Melsheimer and owned by Mel Rose Stable and Joe Nesselroad. The five-year-old Swan For All gelding hit the $500,000 career earnings mark.
High Flyin Filly took the Filly & Mare Open Pace in 1:50.4 after getting away fourth and pulling first up mid-way down the backstretch. Trick Of The Light (Noble) set the early fractions of :26.1 and :55.1 and was head-to-head with High Flyin Filly by the 1:23.1 third quarter mark. Following second-over, Racing For Three (Trevor Smith) finished second with Trick Of The Light holding on for third.
High Flyin Filly is owned by Burke Racing and Weaver Bruscemi. The four-year-old mare by Domethatagain is trained by Burke and now has $237,145 in lifetime earnings.
(With files from Scioto Downs)