A trio of Ohio Sires Stakes dashes for three-year-old diagonally-gaited colts and geldings will head postward on Friday night (June 15) at Scioto Downs.
The races will feature 25 Ohio-breds that will be racing for a purse of $40,000 in each division (Races 1, 2 and 5). First race post time is 6:30 p.m. (ET).
BY THE NUMBERS
All three winners from the Ohio Sires Stakes’ opening leg — Mission Accepted, Northmedo Mission and Sultan Of Cash — are set to return for second-round action.
Mission Accepted, a colt by Manofmanymissions, will vie from Post 2 in the first division (Race 1), while Northmedo Mission, a Manofmanymissions gelding, will start from Post 3 in the same event. Sultan Of Cash, a Cash Hall gelding, will start from Post 2 in the third division (Race 5).
Five of the 25 trotting combatants will be in search of their first victory as three-year-olds: Dance Withsomebody, Dontforgetmaster, Rising MVP, Magic MVP and Cash Lane.
Six of the youngsters did not start in Leg 1 of the series and are undertaking sires stakes action for the first time this season: Cordoba Hall, Last Mission, Vote For Pedro, Rising MVP, Ride The Rails and Manny L; and only two—Vote For Pedro and Secret Bro — did not race as freshmen in 2017.
Eight of the 25 sophomores will utilize trotting hopples; Mission Accepted, Two OB Wonkenobi, Doc Mossies Legacy, Cordoba Hall, Vote For Pedro, Rising MVP, Ride The Rails and Cash Lane.
Of the 25 sires stakes entrants, 19 are geldings and six are colts, with two earning $100,000 or more: Mission Accepted ($235,800) and Sultan Of Cash ($173,965).
For a colt to be eligible to Ohio’s sires stakes program, they must have been sired by a stallion registered with the Ohio State Racing Commission standing in Ohio the year of conception. Stallions represented in these three sires stakes events include Dejarmbro (with six foals); Cash Hall (with five foals); Break The Bank K & Manofmanymissions (with four foals each); My MVP (with three foals); and Dontyouforgetit, Stormin Normand and Winning Fireworks with one foal each.
As well, broodmare sires that are prominent among the 25 trotting colts and geldings include: Tom Ridge and Conway Hall (three foals each); Credit Winner, Donerail, Garland Lobell & Kadabra (two foals each).
In the training ranks, Jim Arledge, Jr., and Rich Gillock will each send out a pair of competitors.
Arledge, Jr., will harness Dontforgetmaster—who was fourth in Leg 1 at Miami Valley on May 6 to Sultan Of Cash—from Post 5 in the second division (Race 2); and Last Mission, a newcomer to the series, from the rail in the third division (Race 5). Gillock bridles up Ride The Rails — also a newcomer — from Post 6 in that same event, and Banker Twentyfive, who was fifth in Leg 1, from Post 6 in the first division (Race 1).
Of the 25 trotters, many are owned in partnerships or by a solo owner that includes 30 Ohioans; six Pennsylvanians; five Indiana owners; three owners each from New Jersey & Canada; two from Kentucky and one each from Michigan and Illinois.
Breeder Walnut Hall is represented by three sophomores in two divisions: Sand Cash and Get The Cash in the first division (Race 1) and newcomer Cordoba Hall in the second division (Race 2). Owner/breeder Robert Key will send out two homebreds: Banker Twentyfive in the first division (Race 1) and Ride The Rails in the third division (Race 5).
And speaking of homebreds, another six trotters were also bred by their owners: Mission Accepted (Race 1) was bred by co-owner Knox Services; Northmedo Mission (Race 1), bred by Northmedo Stable; Joggingtothebank (Race 2) was bred and is owned by Dale and Julie Sweet and trainer Marty Wollam; Pass The Vape (Race 2) was bred by owner Lionel Ray Waitker; Icingon De Cupcake (Race 5) was bred by partners William Jeff Johnson II and Douglas Millard; and Magic MVP (Race 5) was bred and is owned by Midnight Stables.
(OSDF)