Harrisburg Heist made off with the sole $138,889 Ohio Sires Stakes dash for three-year-old colt-and-gelding pacers on Saturday, Aug. 16 at Eldorado Scioto Downs.
Jon I Love Dat (Dan Noble) worked hard to make the front from post five, creating a hot :25.2 first quarter. He travelled unchallenged to the half in :53.3 with Downbythewater (Chris Lems) sitting in the pocket, but Harrisburg Heist and Chris Page were out and moving at three-quarters in 1:21 and soon rolled up to the leader's wheel. Harrisburg Heist worked by him and comfortably drew off to win in 1:49 by three lengths over Downbythewater, with Jon I Love Dat holding on for third.
Now seven-for-20, Harrisburg Heist has $276,408 in lifetime earnings. By Downbytheseaside and out of the Western Ideal mare Cashaway, Harrisburg Heist was bred by Brittany Farms LLC and Marvin Katz. He is trained by Ron Burke for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC, Knox Services Inc., Phil Collura, and Weaver Bruscemi LLC. The win was Harrisburg Heist's second in a row, and it lowered his lifetime mark taken at Oak Grove by a fifth of a second.
There were also four $27,778 divisions of the Buckeye Stallion Series for three-year-old pacing males on the card.
The fastest division went to Extra Suds in a staggering 1:48.4. Sam Widger took the pinto colt off the gate to settle in fourth while Ss Druidstone (Trevor Smith) set the early fractions of :26.3 and :54.2. Pulling first-over and looming off the leader's flank by the 1:21.4 three-quarters, Extra Suds poured it on down the stretch in a :26.4 final quarter to win by six lengths. Woodrow Blue Chip (Justin Irvine) was second with Ss Druidstone finishing third. By Lather Up-The Bomb Dottie, Extra Suds now has six wins in 20 lifetime starts and $270,608 in earnings for trainer and lessee Virgil Morgan, Jr.
Morgan teamed up with his daughter, Kiara Morgan, to win the third division with Odds On Mad Hatter. She piloted the gate-to-wire winner through fractions of :26.3, :54.1, and 1:21.4, hurried through the back half by Unique Catch (Widger), who was parked the mile. But Odds On Mad Hatter kept going to win by a length in 1:50.4 with Unique Catch holding second. Sonnybytheseaside (Irvine) was third. Odds On Mad Hatter, by Lather Up-Arden Hanover, is owned by Odds On Racing. The gelding now has $51,052 earned in 15 lifetime starts with six wins.
Seaside Star and Luke Hanners also took their division in gate-to-wire fashion in 1:51.2. He led Down Two Party (Page) through all points of call and won by 1-3/4 lengths. Makin Moonshine (Noble) was third. Seaside Star, a son of Downbytheseaside-Rock N Roll Xample, is trained by Dean Glispie for owner Always Finish Second Stable.
Copper Penny took his split in 1:51. After leading from just past the quarter, driver Cam McCown had Copper Penny sprinting away from the field to win by three lengths. Cruising Zone (Page) was second with Ahhh Bach (Ronnie Gillespie) third. Copper Penny is a homebred by Fool Me Once-Free N Easy for trainer Brian Brown and owner Lawrence Litwin.
Also on the card, reigning Jim Ewart Memorial champion Little Rocket Man made his Scioto seasonal debut in the $37,500 Open Pace. The nine-year-old gelding led nearly the entire mile after being three-wide through the first turn to hit the quarter first in :26.1. Jeremy Smith rated him to middle splits of :54.1 and 1:21.4, and Little Rocket Man took off on the final turn before cruising to a 1-1/4-length victory in 1:48.2 with the ear plugs in. Timeisonmyside (Anthony MacDonald) finished second over a closing Surreal Ideal (Luke Hanners).
Little Rocket Man is by Rockin Image-Gt Miss Royal and now has $2,101,270 earned in 131 lifetime starts. The victory was his 77th in his career. He is trained by Ken Rucker for Russ Beeman and Jack Freeman. The race also marked Smith’s return to the sulky, and winner’s circle, after six weeks away. Smith will be back full-time starting with the Tuesday card.
Virgil Morgan Jr. had a training grand slam on the 16-race card, adding wins with Odds On Ray ($7.80) and Gem Quality ($2.60) to his pair of Buckeye Stallion Series victories. The 30-time reigning leading trainer added two wins to his slim advantage over Ron Burke in this season's standings, putting himself three in front.
Racing resumes at Eldorado Scioto Downs on Tuesday with five qualifiers starting at 3:45 p.m., followed by the 14-race card at 5:45 p.m. Later in the week, a special Saturday card on August 23 will host the Moni Maker (for three-year-old filly trotters), the Nadia Lobell (for three-year-old filly pacers), the #SendItIn Invitational for aged pacers, and the Cleopatra Invitational for mare pacers. All four two-year-old divisions of Ohio Sires Stakes will also be held on Saturday. The box for Saturday closes Tuesday at noon.
(With files from Scioto Downs)