A trio of $40,000 Ohio Sires Stakes for three-year-old trotting colts and geldings will be contested Friday night (August 12) at Scioto Downs. Twenty-three diagonally-gaited equine athletes will wage war over the five-eighths-mile oval, with a first-race post time set for 6:30 pm (EDT).
These fourth-leg contests are the last events before the $250,000 championships on Super Night, divided by age, gender and gait, that are scheduled for Saturday, September 3 at Northfield Park.
The second OHSS division (Race 3) is clearly the most competitive, with last year’s two-year-old champion MJB Got Faith starting from the three hole for Kayne Kauffman and trainer Walter Haynes Jr. against seven rivals. The altered son of Trainforthefuture has amassed $67,100 this season for his young owner Breana Carsey after earning $192,500 as a freshman.
MJB Got Faith won his third OHSS leg on July 15 at Scioto Downs in 1:55.3 and his second OHSS leg on June 4 at Northfield Park by five lengths in 1:57.2. Both were dominating, front-stepping efforts for the diminutive bay gelding. MJB Got Faith was bred by GBW Breeding Farms Inc. and has nine wins and a pair of third-place finishes in 15 career starts.
OHSS leg-one winner Chips So Fast will challenge MJB Got Faith from Post 5. Conditioned by Chris Beaver, this brown son of Chip Chip Hooray has career earnings of $93,664 for Mark Moger and Albert Delia Jr. This sophomore has four wins, five seconds and a third in 21 lifetime starts and captured leg one at Miami Valley Raceway in 1:57.1 on May 7. Chips So Fast was bred by S & R Angelbeck and Midland Acres.
Trainer Ron Steck sends out The Next Triumph from Post 2 in this same division. The Triumphant Caviar gelding has been a solid force in this series both this year and last. A winner of $131,259 lifetime, he recorded a mark of 1:56.1 en route to winning OHSS leg two on June 4 at Northfield Park for co-owners Steck, Robert Smoiko and Rene Allard. Bred by Second Chance Stable, The Next Triumph was also a strong second to Overdressed in OHSS leg three on July 15 at Scioto Downs.
The first OHSS division (Race 1) features seven sophomore trotters, including second leg winner Roundtown Rocker, who scored a 1:58.3 victory on June 4 at Scioto Downs. The brown gelding is trained by Melanie Wrenn for Dana Parham and will start from Post 7 with Peter Wrenn in the sulky. Bred by William Hartman, the son of Hard Rock N Roll has $56,215 in career earnings and 10 wins in 18 tries.
The Chris Beaver-conditioned Kanthaka has finished second in the first three legs of this series and vies from Post 6 in this same division. The son of Triumphant Caviar is owned by Beaver and breeder Wilbur Lang and has $204,564 in his career coffers. Kanthaka has nine wins, three seconds and a third in 16 starts and will trying for seasonal victory No. 4 in this fourth leg.
Miles Wollam will harness Overdressed from Post 8 in the third OHSS division (Race 5) for G&B Racing and Dale Sweet. The winner of $120,579 lifetime has won all three OHSS legs and is looking to make a clean sweep of this series for his connections. Driven by Kurt Sugg in all of his triumphs this year, the gelded son of Full Count took his career mark of 1:56.2 in OHSS leg three on July 15 at Scioto Downs. Bred by Marvin Raber, Overdressed will be trying for career win No. 6 in this fourth leg test.
Lionbacker Kidd carries the hopes of trainer Joesph Kramp and owner Jeffrey Kidd postward from the four hole. The Lionhunter gelding was bred by John E. Miller and has earned $105,190 for his connections thus far, and will be trying for career win seven in this division. He won the first leg of this series on May 7 at Miami Valley, clocked in 2:00.2.
Wegoferdaprize gets the coveted rail slot for Kayne Kauffman and trainer Jessica Millner. This altered son of And Away We Go will be looking for a repeat of his previous start, when he captured OHSS leg three on July 15 at Scioto Downs in a 1:55.2 come-from-behind effort. A winner of $49,525 in his career, Wegoferdaprize was bred by Bill Troyer and is owned by Curran Racing LLC. He has five wins this season in 10 tries, and will be trying for his fifth consecutive victory in this one mile contest.
Of the 23 sophomore trotters competing in this fourth leg of OHSS action, there are 20 geldings and three colts. Ohio stallions represented includes four youngsters each sired by And Away We Go and Triumphant Caviar; with two each from Chip Chip Hooray, Deep Chip, Lionhunter and Neely Dunn. The stallions Full Count, Hard Rock N Roll, His Highness, Iron Duke, Lous Legacy, Pilgrims Taj and Trainforthefuture each have one progeny in Friday night’s OHSS contests.
Ohio Sires Stakes action continues Saturday night, with a trio of events for three-year-old Ohio-bred pacing colts and geldings scheduled at Northfield Park.
(Ohio Standardbred Development Fund)