Huge upsets in $1.2 million OSS pacing championships

The Ohio Sires Stakes season for pacers concluded on Saturday night at Eldorado Scioto Downs with four $300,000 Scarlet Championships, and 2-year-old colt Clever Cody (The Panderosa) was the only favorite to win as Daisy’s Star (Racing Hill, 30-1), Tarapasta (Downbytheseaside, 87-1) and Wicked Character (Yankee Cruiser, 10-1) lit up the tote board in the other events.

Daisy’s Star kicked off the Championships for the pacers with the upset in the event for 2-year-old fillies. She blasted to the top from post eight for driver Sam Widger, put up fractions of 26.2, 55 and 1:23 and held sway in a 29.1 last quarter, defeating favored Seaside Diva (Chris Page) by a length and a quarter in a life’s-best 1:52.1. Rose Run Zoey (Tyler Smith) finished third.

Daisy’s Star was bred by trainer Johnson Hill Jr. and owner Brent Tartar. She has a record of 3-1-2 from six efforts, has now pocketed $238,126 and returned $63.20 to win.

“I was worried about the trip, getting out there, you can get hung up, and you don’t know if you’re going to find a spot, but she did great. I was thrilled,” Tartar said after the race, adding that Daisy’s Star will be heading to the Ohio Breeders Championships at the Delaware County Fair and then Bluegrass Series action at The Red Mile. “I’ve always believed in the filly. She’s been amazing. She’s shown a lot of heart and a lot of perseverance. I knew she could do it. We just had to get the right trip, and she showed she’s a champion.”

Clever Cody (Aaron Merriman) was also a front-stepping winner. After charging to the engine from post position three, he chopped out panels of 26.4, 55.4 and 1:23.1 and repelled passing lane bids by Paris’s Dragon (Dan Noble) and Janelle Granny (Brett Miller) to score by three-quarters of a length in 1:51.1.

“Brian Brown gave me a sale book for the select sale coming up here in a couple weeks. I will be here this year for sure. I love Ohio,” said winning trainer Dr. Ian Moore. “It looked good, especially when Brett didn’t move with Janelle Granny. I thought that was good for us, maybe. I trained him a little differently the prior start to this, and he wasn’t quite as good maybe, but this time I went back to what I had been doing before – trained him one trip on Thursday and shipped him Friday – and that seemed to be what he liked.”

Bred by Marvin Raber, Clever Cody is trained by Dr. Moore for owner Clever Cody Stable. He’s won five of his eight starts so far and banked $291,050. The 3-2 favorite, he paid $5.00 to win.

Tarapasta was the longest shot on the board in the 3-year-old filly pace but fanned out widest on the final bend from last and off contested fractions of 26.1, 54.1 and 1:22.1 set by Seaside Tina (Noble) and McSeaside (Page) to win in 1:51.2, giving Merriman another victory. Cruise Alert (Brett Miller) was the runner-up, three-quarters of a length behind Tarapasta, and Kassagi (Widger) grabbed third.

“It worked out really well. We wanted one towards the front and one towards the back, kind of see what happened with the fractions,” said victorious owner Greg Luther, who had Tarapasta and Seaside Tina in the event. “There were hot fractions up front, and she came from dead last. It was absolutely awesome.”

The winning filly was bred by Tara Hills Stud and is trained by Todd Luther. She made her sixth trip to the winner’s circle in her 24th try, boosted her earnings to $226,000 and paid a whopping $176.60 to win.

Act Fast (Page) lived up to his name in the final for sophomore colt and gelding pacers as he took the lead away from Rockmelikeyameanit (Noble) after a 25.3 quarter and then kept the pedal to the metal in the second quarter to put the half on the board in 52.3.

That hot tempo took its toll on Act Fast past the 1:21 three-quarters, though, as he was worn down and overtaken by Burnout (Widger), then dropped out of contention. Wicked Character (Yannick Gingras) had followed Burnout all the way, however, and after angling off his cover on the final bend, Wicked Character kicked home nicely to the wire and won by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:49.4. Burnout held off Quick Trick (Smith) for the third spot.

“Sam in the first turn, he was looking for a spot, and I figured he’d be a good one to follow. They were marching right along on the front,” Gingras said. “My horse felt good all the way through, and he kicked home real good in the stretch, too.”

Ron Burke trains Wicked Character, a gelding by Yankee Cruiser, for owners Winterwood Farm, Timothy Sullivan, Robert Jackson, and Tom Wilson. Wicked Character won for the eighth time in his life, has put away $301,800 and returned $22.60 to win.

$100,000 Gray Championships, which served as Ohio Sires Stakes consolations, were won by:

-Beautiful Lather, a 2-year-old daughter of Lather Up bred by Galliers Racing LLC., in 1:53.1 for driver Aaron Merriman, co-owner/trainer Tye Loy and co-owners David Wills, Richard Coad and Douglas Gregory;

-Racing Rebel, a 2-year-old colt by Racing Hill, in 1:53.2 for driver Sam Widger, trainer Dan O’Mara, and owner/breeder Marjorie Polhamus;

-Stormy Serena, a 3-year-old Fear The Dragon filly bred by owners Emerald Highlands Farm, Dolne Farm Services LLC. and Wrenn Racing LLC. in 1:52.3 for driver Peter Wrenn and trainer Melanie Wrenn;

-Ants Marching, a 3-year-old gelding by Downbytheseaside bred by Sugar Valley Farm, in 1:49.4 for driver Dexter Dunn, co-owner/trainer Nancy Takter, and co-owners Howard Taylor, Joe McLead and Billy Walters.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by DRF Harness, for the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association