The fourth and final leg of Ohio Sires Stakes action for two-year-old trotting colts and fillies will take place on Tuesday (Aug. 28) at Scioto Downs, as six $40,000 divisions will head postward.
First-race post time will be at 2 p.m. (ET).
Aunt Rose will start from Post 4 with Ronnie Wrenn Jr. aboard for trainer Chris Beaver in the first sires stakes filly division (Race 2). The Uncle Peter lass won sires stakes leg one in 1:59.1 by seven lengths and leg two in 1:59 by more than four lengths before finishing fourth in leg three to Only Take Cash. Owned in partnership by her trainer along with Michael Carter, Joe Sbrocco and Steven Zeehandelar, Aunt Rose has $45,370 in earnings from two wins in four lifetime starts.
Only Take Cash — the richest of all sires stakes-eligible freshmen fillies with $82,690 earned this season — is a Bob McIntosh trainee who’ll start from Post 6 in the second filly division (Race 10) with Aaron Merriman at the lines. The daughter of Cash Hall, who has five wins and a second after six career starts, was second in sires stakes leg one by a neck to Vivi D, then won leg two in 1:57.1, and leg three in 1:56.4, after having utilized a :27.3 final brush to notch the victory. Only Take Cash is owned by the Ontario trio of Robert McIntosh Stables, Dave Boyle and Mardon Stables.
Trainer Chris Beaver will harness Stone In Love, a Wishing Stone lass, for the third filly division (Race 12). Owned in partnership by Beaver along with Jim Burnett and Tim Homan, Stone In Love won leg one in 1:59.2, before finishing second to stablemate Pure Chance in leg two. She then finished second to Only Take Cash in leg three on August 6 at Northfield. Chris Page will steer the winner of $50,850 lifetime from the two-hole.
Stablemate Pure Chance, a brown Triumphant Caviar lass, will start from Post 5 for Aaron Merriman in the same race. Owned by her trainer and Steven Zeehandelar, Pure Chance finished third in sires stakes leg one, then won leg two in 1:59.2, and was second in leg three to another Beaver trainee, Back Splash. Pure Chance has amassed $38,328 thus far in her brief career from one win, a second and a third in four starts.
Among the colts, Dylan The Great stands out in the first sires stakes division (Race 1). The Ron Burke trainee, a gelded son of Break The Bank K, is the richest youngster in this division with $56,400 in earnings from three wins and a second after five starts. After having finished second in sires stakes leg one, Dylan The Great was fourth in leg two, then posted a winning 1:58 clocking in a game effort at Northfield on August 6. Chris Page will guide the venerable gelding from Post 7.
Burke will also bridle up Wittyville in the second sires stakes colt division (Race 5). The Manofmanymissions colt won leg three, as he drew off by three lengths in 1:56.2 for Chris Page. He was third in leg two and sixth in leg one for owners Burke Racing, Knox Services and Weaver Bruscemi. The winner of $28,510 with a win and two thirds in four starts will host Page in the bike from Post 2.
The Ontario-based duo of trainer Jason McGinnis and driver Anthony MacDonald will team up with the Manofmanymissions gelding Yes in the same event from the rail. A winner of $44,075 from a win, two seconds and a third in four starts, Yes is owned by Thestable Yes Group of Guelph, Ontario. The bay gelding was second in leg three to Dylan The Great, but won leg two in 1:59.2 at Scioto Downs on July 20 and was third in leg one to Homer Hall.
Cumberland Gap is also sure to be a factor in this same contest from Post 3 with Ronnie Wrenn Jr. doing the driving. The Wishing Stone colt won leg three in 1:57.4 at Northfield after having finished second in leg two. Owned by Chuck Stillings and trainer Renee Bauslaugh, Cumberland Gap has $56,187 in career earnings from five wins and a second in seven starts.
The Mark Winters-trained Lane Of Stone leads the third sires stakes colt division (Race 7) from Post 9 with Jeff Nisonger at the controls. The brown son of Wishing Stone won leg one in 1:59.3 at Northfield on July 2 and leg two at Scioto Downs on July 20 in 1:58.2 by a commanding nine lengths. He was second to Wittyville, timed in 1:57, in the third leg at Northfield on August 6. The homebred is owned by Harry Horowitz of Brooklyn, NY and owns a bankroll of $56,143 from five wins and a second in six starts.
After the fourth and final leg, the top nine point earners in each division will qualify for the $275,000 Championship at Scioto Downs on September 8. Here are the top nine colts after the first three legs of sires stakes competition: Lane Of Stone (128 points); Yes (90); Bosley (90); Oh So Pine (90); Dylan The Great (86); Peter Trottintail (83); Cumberland Gap (78); Homer Hall (73) and Never Say Uncle (66).
The following are the top nine fillies: Only Take Cash (128 points); Aunt Rose (115); Vivi D (103); Stone In Love (103); Pure Chance (90); Back Splash (73); Spirit Bell (70); Princessofpink (65) and See Me Sparkle (65).
(OSDF)