Refined shines opening night at Scioto Downs

Refined (Uncle Peter) made her first harness racing start back in three months an impressive one, leaving from the eight hole to win by two lengths in 1:52 on Eldorado Scioto Downs’ opening night.

Driven by Tyler Smith for trainer Virgil Morgan, Jr., Refined went off at 5/2 and paid $7.60 to win the $30,000 Filly & Mare Open Trot. Race favorite Fawn De Touch (Tony Hall/Miles Wollam) finished second while Swan Fine Lady (Chris Page/Ed Zubkoff, Jr.) rounded out the trifecta. Refined is owned by Joyce McClelland and Larry Wills, both of Ohio.

REFINED REPLAY

The first six races saw six different drivers head to the winner’s circle; by the end of the night 10 different drivers got their picture taken. By the end of the 16-race card, Dan Noble and Austin Hanners took the early lead in the driver standings by capturing three races each.

“I’m optimistic we are going to have a great season,” said Jason Roth, Scioto’s Director of Racing. “We have a deep driver colony, great purses and everyone is excited about the new grandstand. With Jenna (Otten) here doing on-air handicapping with Barry (Vicroy, announcer) and interviews, we’re going to create a lot of content about Scioto racing both on the simulcast feed and online.”

Opening night handle was up 31% over 2022 opening night, with just one more race on the card. There was an instant carryover from the third race $.20 Superfecta to the fifth race, which saw over $16,000 in new money wagered. New to the 2023 wagering menu, Scioto has both an early and a late Pick-5 wager, with the track’s lowest takeout of 15%. If not hit, each Pick-5 will 100% carryover to the next day’s early or late Pick-5. Neither were hit on opening night, so the early Pick-5 starting in race three and the late Pick-5 starting in race eight on the Friday (May 12) card will include those carryovers.

Free program pages are available daily on the Scioto Downs website, both for qualifiers and live racing. Race replays are also available on this page of the website.

The 90-day Scioto Downs live racing season goes through Saturday, September 16. The typical race schedule will be Tuesdays-Saturdays with first post of 3:15 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and 5:50 p.m. first post for Thursdays-Saturdays.

Follow @SciotoRacing on Twitter for all the details of the 2023 racing season at Eldorado Scioto Downs.

More information about the entire Scioto Downs racing season, including race schedule, wagering menu, VIP room reservations and more can be found by clicking here.

For complete race results, click here.

From Eldorado Scioto Downs