The four $20,000 divisions of the Buckeye Stallion Series for sophomore filly pacers at MGM Northfield Park on Monday night (July 17) produced four repeat winners. Onederfulbeach, Racing For Three and Beautiful Seaside each picked up their third Buckeye Stallion Series win of the season while High Flyin Filly scored for the fourth time.
In the first division, Aaron Merriman took Onederfulbeach to the lead off the gate and held off a late surge from Honey Buzz at the wire to win by a nose in 1:51.3. Trained by Braiden Rhoades, the Beachtrae filly was the 1-9 favourite. The win was her fourth in 11 starts this season and pushed her lifetime bankroll to $83,100 for owner Chris Beaver. Type A Dragon finished third.
In the second division, Racing For Three and Tyler Smith made their move heading up the backstretch and grabbed the lead mid-stretch to win by a 1-1/4-lengths in a new lifetime mark of 1:52.1. It was the fourth win in 10 starts this year for the daughter of Western Terror. AJ Carlo trains Racing For Three for the ownership group of Carlo Racing and C2G Stable. Racing For Three raised her lifetime earnings to $56,470. Lofty Treasurer was second with Tre Rock third.
In the third division, High Flyin Filly and Chris Page shot down the lane and caught My Red Sea in deep stretch to win by a half-length in 1:52.2. It was the 11th win in 19 sophomore starts for the Ron Burke trainee. The daughter of Domethatagain is owned by Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi. High Flyin Filly raised her earnings to $134,238. Yankee Nudge finished third.
In the final division, Beautiful Seaside and Ronnie Wrenn Jr. reeled in the leader at the top of the stretch and drew away to win by 3-1/2 lengths in a new lifetime mark of 1:50.3. The homebred Downbytheseaside filly has won seven of 12 races this year. Beautiful Seaside is owned by Matt Rowe and trained by Melby Ober Jr. Beautiful Seaside raised her lifetime earnings to $79,210. Rumor Has It was second with Apple Martini third.
(With files from Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association; Photo of Beautiful Seaside winning earlier this year)