Ten $20,000 divisions of the Buckeye Stallion Series for three-year-old colts were raced on Thursday, July 4 at Eldorado Scioto Downs. There seemed to be no track bias, as winners of the five divisions of the pacers came from behind, led gate-to-wire, came first over or got the two-hole trip to come up the pacing lane.
Seasideescape and Austin Hanners took the fastest split of the three-year-old colt pacers, winning by 8-1/4 lengths in 1:50. The Steve Carter trainee left from post seven and after briefly relinquishing the lead to Nocrynintheuber (Kayne Kauffman) led at every call, with quarters of :26.1, :54.2 and 1:21.3. The Downbytheseaside gelding was a $75,000 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale purchase and is owned by Country Club Acres, Joe Sbrocco & JAF Racing, Don Latore and Aws Stables. Seasideescape now has two wins in 18 lifetime starts and $77,243 in earnings.
The other winners of the Buckeye Stallion Series for pacers were:
Horse (Winning time) — Trainer/Driver — Owner(s)
- Leaving A Legend (1:51.3) — Kayne Kauffman — Legends Racing
- King Of The Rings (1:52.2) — Scott Mogan / Tyler Smith — Linda Van Camp
- Twenty Five (1:52.1) — Ron Burke / Chris Page — Burke Racing, Hatfield Stables, Knox Services, J&T Silva Purnel & Libby
- What An Ocean View (1:52.4) — Burke / Page — Burke Racing, Knox Services, RAS Racing, J&T Silva Purnel & Libby
Driver Anthony MacDonald took nearly identical trips to the winner’s circle with two colt trotters.
Leaving from post seven, Irresistible Son (pictured above) took the field to quarters of :27.4, :57.4 and 1:26 to win by two lengths in 1:54.3 in the first division of BSS action. Four races later, MacDonald came back with Gypsy Hill. The duo left from post eight and were parked to the opening quarter of :27.3 but settled on the front end to cut fractions of :57.3 and 1:26 to win by 2-1/2 lengths in 1:55.4. Both horses are trained by Jason McGinnis. Both Irresistible Son (by Triumphant Caviar) and Gypsy Hill (by What The Hill) are owned by Hutchison Harness and the fractional ownership group named after that stable horse.
Other divisional winners of the Buckeye Stallion Series for trotters were:
Horse (Winning time) Trainer/Driver — Owner(s)
- Tom Swifty (1:55) — Christi Noble / Dan Noble — Sandra Burnett, Norman Rae Racing
- When Im Gone AS (1:56.2) — Anette Lorentzon / Tyler Smith — ACL Stuteri, Lorentzon
- Sir Maverick (1:56.1) — Brian Miller / Kauffman — Anthony Miller
The 90-day 2024 Eldorado Scioto Downs race meet runs through Saturday, Sept. 14.
(Scioto Downs)