Four divisions of Ohio Sires Stakes three-year-olds battled Saturday night at Scioto Downs, each vying for a purse of $40,000 in the fourth leg of this series for Buckeye-bred colt and gelding trotters and pacers.
Indian Spirit prevailed in the first pacing division over rival Gray Camo in 1:52.4. The Tylers Big Mark gelding was guided by Kyle Ater for his father, trainer Dan Ater and owner Greg Forcum of Chillicothe, Ohio.
“This is the best horse I’ve ever had,” an excited Forcum said in the Scioto Downs winner’s circle. “This horse has a ton of heart and just never gives up. He loves chasing horses.”
Bred by Bruce Lane, Indian Spirit pushed his seasonal earnings to $86,810 with the win, his sixth of the season in te10 n starts. Lifetime, he has $121,219 in his bank account.
“I turned him over to Dan late last season,” Forcum explained modestly. “I thought he was a little bit better horse than I needed to be fooling with and that it might be better to give him to Dan, who has a lot more experience with top horses than I do.”
After eventual third-place finisher Gray Camo (Chris Page) led the field through fractions of :27, :55.2 and 1:23.3, the younger Ater pulled his charge first over and the pacer responded with a solid burst of speed that put him two lengths in front at the wire. Rock N Randall (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) was third. Indian Spirit has now won the second, third and fourth leg of his sires stakes contests.
The second pacing division saw 4-5 favourite Imtoofastforyou and Josh Sutton emerge victorious with a 1:54 clocking. The son of Mantacular-Lady Camette-Artsplace hails from the powerful Virgil Morgan Jr. stable and notched career win two in his ninth try. Unraced at two, Imtoofastforyou—who was bred by Midland Acres—pushed his career earnings to $54,150.
“He had some knees that were open and he just wasn’t ready to race last season,” noted Morgan Jr. “And he was an orangutan to deal with as a youngster, so we gelded him, and that’s helped his attitude tremendously. Unlike some of these colts, he didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for this season either mentally or physically, and so he’s really come a long way.”
Owned by Carl Howard of Powell, Ohio, Gerrie Tucker of Montreal, Que., and Brian Kohen of Dayton, Ohio, Imtoofastforyou maintained his cool despite a recall caused by Nobles Finesse. Once the wings sprang, the bay colt took the lead and never looked back, snapping off fractions of :28, :57.2, and 1:28.3 before posting a three-quarter victory over Nobles Finesse (Kurt Sugg) and Chief Talkalot (Aaron Merriman).
I Know My Chip and Chris Page captured the first of two $40,000 trotting divisions handily in 1:55. The gelded son of Deep Chip-Madelines Crown-Pegasus Spur was bred by Ohio’s Kim Dailey and is trained by Ron Burke.
“This horse has just gotten better and better as the season goes on,” Burke stressed. “He’s turned out to be a much better horse than I originally thought.”
This was I Know My Chip’s second win in sires stakes competition in 2015 and pushed his seasonal earnings to $132,875 and his career totals to $238,278 for owners Burke Racing Stable of Frerickestown, Pennsylvania, Weaver Bruscemi of Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, and Paul Collura of Mountain Top, Pennsylvania. He now has nine cheques in all 10 starts this season.
The brown gelding, a 1-5 shot, took the lead away from the hard-trying Neelys Messenger (Mike Wilder) at the :58 half, and never looked back, posting a three and a half length triumph. The aforementioned rival held on for second, while Reel Deep Chip (Kayne Kauffman) was third, followed by Kick A Lot (Kurt Sugg) and Chips Starr (Hugh Beatty).
It was an emotional, tear-feared winner’s circle that welcomed No Whip Chip for a well-deserved photo after a gate-to-wire triumph in 1:57.1. The son of Victory Sam-Merediths Hope-Master Lavec notched his third win in eight starts for trainer/driver Dan Noble and his mother, owner Debbie Noble.
“These are happy tears,” Debbie Noble explained. “This horse belongs to a group of youngsters that Chip [the late Sam Noble III] bred and raised. He raced this horse’s parents and to win with this colt is just even more emotional than it would be normally because I know he wanted so much to be here, to see what this colt has become. We feel so blessed to have this horse and we feel sure that Chip is watching over us.”
The victory pushed No Whip Chip’s lifetime earnings to $60,440 as he nailed down his third lifetime win in eight starts. Unraced as a freshman, the bay gelding has missed only one cheque in his career. My Friend Jim (Jeremy Smith) was second, followed by Cooter Dunn (Louis Bauslaugh).
Ohio Sires Stakes for freshmen colts and filly of both gaits continue next weekend (Sept. 4 & 5) at Scioto Downs, while the $225,000 Championships for all two and three-year-old divisions will be contested on Saturday, Sept. 12 during Super Night festivities at the five-eighth’s mile oval.
(With files from Ohio Standardbred Development Fund)