Three horses picked up their second Buckeye Stallion Series wins of the season as MGM Northfield Park hosted four $27,027 divisions of the third leg for three-year-old colt trotters as part of a 16-race card on Monday, July 7.
Previous winners I Stand Alone As, Rose Run Ari and Letsgotoparis won their respective divisions while Shoot Some Hoop recorded his first Buckeye win of 2025.
Letsgotoparis posted the fastest time of the second leg, winning the fourth division in a lifetime-best 1:56 with driver Kurt Sugg. After leaving from the inside post, the Edward Miller trainee led the entire way with fractions of :28.3, :58.4 and 1:27. He won by almost two lengths over Smoke One For Me (Dan Noble) with Full Moon Howl (Luke Ebersole) in third. The Mister Anson-Paris Filly gelding has hit the board in five of six starts this season with two wins. He has six wins and nearly $80,000 in earnings in 16 lifetime starts for Miller and co-owner Ashley Dunn.
I Stand Alone As (Noble) won by a half-length in 1:58.2 over challenger Rose Run Arch (Chris Lems) with Tiny Tom (Aaron Merriman) in third. The Anette Lorentzon trainee led at every call in fractions of :29, :59.3 and 1:28.3. He has hit the board in four of five seasonal starts with three wins. The gelded son of Enterprise-Catwalk As is owned by ACL Stuteri AB and Kjell Johansson.
After a break at the start, the Todd Luther-trained Rose Run Ari (Austin Hanners) settled in third place for panels of :28.4 and :58.2. Going to the 1:26.4 three-quarters, Skyway Slick (Jason Beattie) broke stride from the pocket, ceding second place to Rose Run Ari behind leader Born To Trot (Noble). Hanners took Rose Run Ari to the outside and into the lead around the final turn en route to the 1:56.1 win by three-quarters of a length. Born To Trot was second followed by Memory Vault (Chris Page) in third. A Triumphant Caviar-Rose Run Keepsake gelding, Rose Run Ari is owned by Greg Luther Racing. He picked up his third career victory in 18 starts.
Shoot Some Hoop (Page) recorded his first Buckeye win of the season, scoring in a lifetime-best 1:56.2. The Ron Burke trainee led at every call, posting fractions of :29, :58.1, and 1:26.4, and won by almost two lengths ahead of Along Came Tom (Noble) in second with Long Rocky Road (Justin Irvine) in third. Shoot Some Hoop has hit the board in five of six starts this season with two wins. The Enterprise-Anja gelding is owned by Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi and Rich Lombardo Racing.
Merriman finished as the leading driver on the night with five wins while Noble, Page and Braiden Rhoades doubled up. Burke tallied two wins as the lone trainer with multiple victories.
The Buckeye Stallion Series continues on Wednesday, July 9 with four divisions in the third leg for three-year-old filly trotters and then on Thursday, July 10 with five divisions in the opening leg for two-year-old filly trotters, both at Eldorado Scioto Downs. First-race post time is 5:45 p.m. both days.
(With files from Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association)