Steering his fifth winner of the night, driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. sent Doo Wop Hanover wire-to-wire to win the $225,000 Jim Ewart Memorial Pace contested during Saturday's Ohio Super Night at Scioto Downs.
Leaving from mid-field, Doo Wop Hanover and Wrenn took the lead with All Bets Off (Matt Kakaley) moving into second-place. Limelight Beach (Chris Page) got away third while Domethatagain (Dan Noble) settled into fourth ahead of the 2-5 favourite, State Treasurer (David Miller).
Doo Wop Hanover put up a :26.1 opening quarter and headed to the half in :54.2 while State Treasurer began to advance from fifth. That flushed Limelight Beach first up, giving State Treasurer cover approaching three-quarters in 1:21.2.
Doo Wop Hanover continued to lead into the stretch, rebuffing the challenge from Limelight Beach, while All Bets Off pursued out of the pocket and State Treasurer charged three-wide. However, Doo Wop Hanover was able to fend off his foes down the lane and prevailed by a head in 1:49.2. All Bets Off finished second and State Treasurer was third, half a length behind.
"He's a nice horse, probably one of the nicest I've ever driven," Wrenn said of the four-year-old son of Rocknroll Hanover, trained by Steve Elliott and owned by Peter Blood and Rick Berks.
Wrenn, who had just finished explaining how the front-end was not holding up tonight after winning the $40,000 Ryder Steck Memorial Pace from off-the-pace with Santa Fe Beachboy, expressed how impressed he was by Doo Wop Hanover's wire-to-wire mile.
"He overcame that, I really don't think the front end is holding up at all tonight," confirmed Wrenn. "He just went a wicked mile.
"Both Burke horses -- one was behind me and one was first over -- you can't count those two horses out. He was tough tonight."
Doo Wop Hanover paid $12.80 to win.
The victory was his seventh in 15 starts this year and 13th lifetime, pushing his bankroll to nearly $755,000.
In the Steck Memorial, Santa Fe Beachboy and Wrenn capitalized off of hot early fractions.
Parked and pressing through a :25.4 opener, Great Vintage (Brett Miller) eventually cleared Our Lucky Chip (Josh Sutton) and Atta Boy Dan (Chris Page), the even-money favourite from the inside post. However, Atta Boy Dan went on the attack and swept by at the half in :53.4 with Santa Fe Beachboy following hot on his heels. Wrenn and Santa Fe Beachboy took over the lead down the backstretch and began to open up four lengths on the way to three-quarters in 1:21.1, and held that margin to the wire in 1:49.4. Great Vintage finished second over Atta Boy Dan.
"They definitely went some early fractions and it's a cold night and the front end is definitely not holding up tonight. He's a nice horse and we took advantage of it. He was very strong tonight," said Wrenn after the race. "What a great race to win, the Ryder Steck Memorial, so I'm very thankful."
Brian Brown trains the winner for the Santa Fe Stable. The five-year-old Somebeachsomewhere gelding went over the $200,000 career earnings mark with the victory.
Wind Of The North held off rivals on both sides to win the $100,000 Sam "Chip" Noble III Memorial Trot earlier in the evening for trainer Daryl Bier and co-owner Joann Dombeck.
Driver Dave Palone sent the five-year-old Cantab Hall gelding to the lead from post five with slight favourite Gural Hanover (Matt Kakaley) crossing into the two-hole ahead of insider Southwind Pepino (Hugh Beatty). Wind Of The North then set fractions of :27.3, :56.1 and 1:24.4 while Kirty Dream (Josh Sutton) faded first over. Il Sogno Dream (Aaron Merriman) launched off cover turning for home while Gural Hanover pulled the pocket and Southwind Pepino shot through the passing lane. However, Wind Of The North kept his rivals at bay to score his second consecutive victory since returning from his European campaign this past Spring, stopping the clock in 1:53.2. Gural Hanover edged out Southwind Pepino in a photo for place.
"I really went into the race thinking it was [Wind Of The North] and Gural Hanover, and really hadn't made up my mind if I thought I should be on the lead," said Palone. "I was just going to see how crisp my horse was off the wings and when he crossed right over and Matt [Kakaley] was content to follow me, I thought, well, I could get the numbers I wanted. It was a great horse race. He came off my back, I thought he had me beat and my horse fought back like I thought he would off those fractions."
Friends and family of the late Chip Noble joined the connections of Wind Of The North in the winner's circle following the race.
"I remember when I was young, Chip would send horses to The Meadows and I'd get to drive them. It was an honour to be 25, 26 and get to race for Chip Noble," Palone said of the Ohio Harness Racing Hall of Fame horseman who passed away in January 2014. "He's one of the best horsemen that ever lived and I don't think anyone in Ohio can say his name without getting a little choked up."
Ohio-Bred Youngsters Shine In Sires Stakes Championships
Eight $225,000 Ohio Sires Stakes Championships featured the state's top-bred two and three-year-old pacing and trotting colts and fillies on Saturday night. An equal amount of longshots and even-money favourites gave the titanic crowd a great bang for their gambling buck.
Two-Year-Old Filly Trot
Mild longshot (13-1) Count On Kami picked the perfect time to break her maiden as she bested favourite Kestrel by a whisker in the Ohio Championship for two-year-old trotting fillies. The daughter of Full County-Joys Second Call tripped the timer in 1:58.1 for the one mile test with driver Kurt Sugg at the lines for trainer Marty Wollam.
“After she raced in the first leg, I really thought I had the best horse in this series,” Sugg noted. “But then she’s just been finishing second all summer and I kind of thought it wasn’t going to happen. Tonight, I got the perfect two-hole trip and I think Aaron [Merriman's] horse [Kestrel] wasn’t quite as sharp as she normally is.”
Co-owned by Wollam of Vienna, Ohio, David Wayne Vannatta of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and Acadia Farms Inc. of Canfield, Ohio, Count On Kami pushed her career earnings to $167,591.
“I really thought all along this filly would be good and tonight she just put it all together,” Sugg added.
“We raised this filly from a baby,” said Charlotte Vannatta. “She’s been with us since day one and we also have a half-sister to her. She’s been one special filly for us and finishing second was okay, but this just takes the cake!”
Kestrel (Aaron Merriman) was second for trainer Chris Beaver, while Consolidator (Chris Page) finished third for trainer Jim Arledge Jr.
Two-Year-Old Filly Pace
Brenda Teague harnessed Miss Me Yet to her third career victory in six tries for owner and co-breeder George Teague Jr. of Harrington, Delaware in the Ohio Two-Year-Old Filly Pace Championship. Reined to a 1:54.3 clocking by George’s son and Brenda’s nephew Montrell Teague, the daughter of Im Gorgeous-Live Inspired was co-bred by Fannin Racing LLC.
“This filly has been very good to us,” Brenda noted. “She’s tough as nails and always gives you 100 percent on the track.”
An 8-1 mild longshot, Miss Me Yet held off My Tweed Heart (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) by nearly a length, with Big Bad Ashley (Dan Noble) gobbling up show honours. The win upped her career bank account to $171,300. She had captured two previous legs of OSS action.
Two-Year-Old Colt Trot
Heavy favourite MJB Got Faith did not disappoint his owner — 11-year-old Breana Casey of Connersville, Indiana — in the Sires Stakes test for two-year-old trotting colts. The gelded son of Trainforthefuture-Imageofasweetgirl got a perfect steer by driver Peter Wrenn to best the hard-trying Emerald Chip (Josh Sutton) by a neck in 1:58.3 Kanthaka (Dave Palone) finished third.
“He’s always a strong horse finishing and tonight he really wanted to step out of there,” Wrenn noted. “He’s really wanted out of the pocket and when I finally turned him loose, he just exploded.”
Trained by Steve Carter, MJB Got Faith was bred by the Gbw Breeding Farms Inc. The horse's owner has donated 10 percent of his earnings to the Brad Hanners Fund. Breana’s dad Brian said the idea to help Hanners was all Breana’s idea.
“Breana believes in giving and in giving back to the community,” stressed her father, Brian Carsey.
The filly has now earned her young owner $192,500, having won all four legs of the Ohio Sires Stakes series, in addition to the Championship.
Two-Year-Old Colt Pace
Love Tap Hanover captured the Two-Year-Old Colt Pace Championship in 1:54.2 with David Miller in the sulky. The son of Big Bad John-Love Lace Mindale used come-from-behind tactics to nab career win number three over Friskie Cruiser (Ryan Stahl) and Mr Wiggle Pants (Kayne Kauffman).
“He raced great here last week,” noted trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. “Of course tonight the post and the trip didn’t hurt him at all.
Morgan Jr. conditions the freshman, who is owned by Rick Phillips of Tappan, New York, Peter Paul Venturini of Rockaway, New Jersey, and Mark Harder of Freehold, New Jersey. Bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, Love Tap Hanover now has $166,457 in his career coffers.
“I drove this horse quite a bit when he was out East,” driver David Miller admitted. “I’m not surprised to see him do well in here. I always thought he’d make a nice youngster.”
For Morgan Jr., the victory was bittersweet as his other entrant in this same division — Primo Giovanni — did not have his usual spunk after capturing all of his previous Sires Stakes tests, and finished eighth.
Three-Year-Old Filly Trot
Favourite Like Old Times and driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. used a near wire-to-wire performance to capture the Three-Year-Old Filly Championship for trotters in 1:57.2. The daughter of Chip Chip Hooray-Royal Two grabbed the lead at the half and never looked back, drawing off by three and a quarter lengths over rival Student Of Life (Mike Wilder), with the gutsy Dark Roast (Kurt Sugg) getting up for third.
“She’s an absolute Cadillac to drive,” Wrenn Jr. admitted. “The rail isn’t the best spot to get away from at Scioto and there’s always a little bit of concern when you’re racing for $225,000, but she really didn’t require any urging from me at all tonight. She’s just really on her game right now.”
Bred and owned by Keith Ross of Bellefontaine, Ohio, Like Old Times is conditioned by Don McKirgan. This was her 14th career win and pushed her lifetime earnings to $315,117.
Three-Year-Old Filly Pace
Even-money favourite Karlee Sue stepped up to the plate for trainer Al Tomlinson, capturing the Three-Year-Old Filly Pace Championship in 1:54.3 with David Miller at the lines.
“She had some ovary problems that we had a tough time getting regulated,” said co-owner Tomlinson, who conditions the filly for Daniel Mitchell of Novi, Michigan and Dennis Stolz of Midland, Michigan. “But once we got those issues straightened out, she’s seemed so much more comfortable.”
Bred by Midland Acres, the daughter of Feelin Friskie-Magical Jeanie utilized a two-hole trip to nail down the win, the fifth of the season and the sixth of her career. Friskie Lil Devil (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) made up a ton of ground to finish second, just a length behind the winner, while Sectionlinefriskie (Greg Grismore) nabbed show honours.
The victory pushed Karlee Sue’s career earnings to $221,727 for her connections.
Three-Year-Old Colt Trot
Favourite I Know My Chip and driver Chris Page left hard from post nine and were never headed in the Three-Year-Old Colt Trot Championship, besting Really Deep Chip (Kayne Kauffman) by two lengths at the wire. The gutsy Neelys Messenger (Mike Wilder) finished a hard-fought third.
“He’s really been getting stronger and stronger,” Page noted. “I was a little worried because it is a cold night and the front end really wasn’t holding up, but this horse is just spectacular right now.”
The son of Deep Chip-Madelines Chip posted a 1:56.3 clocking for trainer Ron Burke and owners Burke Racing Stable of Frederickstown, Pennsylvania, Weaver Bruscemi of Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, and Paul Collura, Mountain Top, Pennsylvania. Bred by Kimberly Dailey, I Know My Chip pushed his career earnings to $350,778. The victory — the 13th of his career — was his fourth straight in Sires Stakes competition.
Three-Year-Old Colt Pace
In an exciting stretch duel, 3-1 Rock N Randall (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) bested rivals Nobles Finesse (Kurt Sugg) and Imtoofastforyou (Josh Sutton) in 1:55. The son of Dave Panlone-Appealing Sammi notched career victory number nine for trainer Brian Brown and owner/breeder Stephen Sexton of Xenia, Ohio.
“This horse is very lazy,” said Brown. “He really doesn’t care if he wins or not and we do a lot to make the game interesting for him. For instance, this week we trained him with side cheeks on, and then raced him in a different rigging. He’s a good eater, but really isn’t all that interested in racing or training. Lucky for us that tonight, he seemed into racing. He’ll go to Delaware next.”
Rock N Randall upped his career earnings to $253,808 with the win, his fourth triumph of the season in 14 starts.
Coming Up: Ohio Sires Stakes for aged trotting and pacing horses and mares continues with four $50,000 Championships on Oct. 24 at Hollywood at Dayton Raceway.
(With files from Ohio Standardbred Development Fund)