The second leg of the 2025 Buckeye Stallion Series for freshmen will be contested this week with four $20,000 USD divisions for colt trotters on Thursday, July 24 and six $20,000 USD divisions of colt pacers on Friday, July 25, both held at Eldorado Scioto Downs.
Each day features a 16-race card starting at 5:45 p.m.
All four first-leg winners at Bucyrus — Long To B Withu, Hidden Brook Monty, Eckert Hill Brady, and Ready Made — are entered in Thursday’s second leg for two-year-old colt trotters and will highlight the first and third divisions.
Looking to repeat, Eckert Hill Brady (Justin Irvine) and Long To B Withu (Justin Hall) will clash in the first division, leaving from posts four and six, respectively. Thus far this season, Eckert Hill Brady is three-for-three while Long To B Withu has hit the board in his three starts with two wins and one second. But neither one is the morning line favourite in the division. That status belongs to Bug On (Dan Noble), who will leave from the far outside post nine at 2-1. Leaving from the rail, Lt Will B Awesome (Peter Wrenn) is the 3-1 second choice. Eckert Hill Brady and Long To B Withu opened at 6-1 and 8-1, respectively.
Hidden Brook Monty (Noble) and Ready Made (Sandy Beatty) share 6-1 morning line odds as co-third choices in the third division behind 2-1 favourite Rudedude L (Hank LeVan) and 4-1 second choice Ready For Sunshine (Ronnie Gillespie). In the opening leg, Ready For Sunshine was the runner-up to Long To B Withu, and Rudedude L finished third in the third division. Rudedude L will leave from the rail next to Ready For Sunshine in post two and Ready Made in post three. Hidden Brook Monty will leave from post eight.
Daniel My Brother (Crist Hershberger), who was the runner-up to Eckert Hill Brady in the third division of the opening leg, is the early 2-1 favourite in the second division despite leaving from the far outside post eight. Perfect Range (Luke Hanners) leaves from the rail as the 5-2 second choice.
Jackie Jann (Wilbur Yoder) is the 6-5 morning line favourite in the fourth division and will leave from the rail alongside 2-1 second choice Okay One More (Aaron Merriman).
On Friday, the first division of two-year-old colt pacers is the only one to feature multiple winners from the opening leg of the BSS at MGM Northfield Park with Barcelona Legend (Chris Lems) and Heerzadiamondstud (Cameron McCown). Odds On Sugar (Chris Page) will leave from the far outside post nine as the 8-5 morning line favourite. Barcelona Legend, who is perfect through three starts this season, is the 7-2 second choice and leaves from post two. Heerzadiamondstud is the 9-2 third choice and will start from post five.
First-leg winner Hunka Hunka (Kurt Sugg) is the early 7-5 favourite in the second division with 3-1 second choice The Ebony Dragon (Hanners) just to his outside. Hunka Hunka is two-for-two on the season while The Ebony Dragon has hit the board in all seven seasonal starts with six victories. The Ebony Dragon finished third in the opening leg.
Another first-leg winner, Heerz Corinthian (McCown), is the 8-5 morning line favourite in the third division from post five. Fired Up Henry L (LeVan) has three wins in eight starts this season and is the 5-2 second choice leaving from the rail.
First leg winners Odds On Rpj and Cipher are the morning line favourites in their respective divisions. Odds On Rpj (Noble) is the even-money favourite from post two in the fifth division ahead of 3-1 second choice Touchedbythesea (Page). Cipher (Brett Miller) opened with 2-1 odds from post six in the sixth division with 5-2 second choice Captains Dance (Irvine) in the two-hole. Both first-leg winners are two-for-two.
There are no first-leg winners in the fourth division, which features 9-5 favourite Caillou Hanover (Noble) leaving from post two alongside 5-2 second choice Odds On Phil (Sam Widger) on the rail. Odds On Phil was the runner-up to Heerz Corinthian in the opening leg.
First-leg winner Catch My Dragon is not entered in the second leg of the BSS and is instead set to go in the second leg of the Ohio Sires Stakes on Saturday, July 26 at Scioto.
(Scioto Downs; photo of Heerz Corinthian winning his first BSS leg on July 19)