Brian Brown has sights set on Ohio Sire Stakes Finals

Hightstown, NJ — Trainer Brian Brown is enjoying the now with male pacer Seafire (Downbytheseaside-Wildfire Princess) while also keeping an eye on the 4-year-old’s harness racing future.

Unraced at age 2, Seafire has won 10 of 20 career races and hit the board a total of 16 times, earning $225,210. On Friday, he will head to the Ohio Sire Stakes championship for older male pacers at Eldorado Scioto Downs as the 8-5 morning-line favorite for Brown and driver Chris Page.

The stallion enters the event — one of four $85,000 OHSS championships for older horses Friday at the central Ohio five-eighths-mile oval — off a career-best 1:48 victory in the #SendItIn Invitational on Aug. 17 at Scioto Downs. The clocking equaled the fastest of the season by a 4-year-old pacer on a five-eighths-mile track and ranks third overall among all pacers on a five-eighths.

“He’s a very nice horse,” Brown said. “There is really nothing that you ask him to do that he’s not willing to do. Of course, he’s got speed and ability, but I think his gameness, his toughness, is his best attribute. He’s got a lot of guts. He tries hard.”

Seafire needed time to mature as a 2-year-old, which led to Brown keeping the horse on the sidelines for the season.

“He was a big colt, kind of heavy,” Brown said. “He just wasn’t ready to race at 2.”

Last year, Seafire hit the board in all nine of his starts, winning five. This season opened with him winning back-to-back conditioned races before testing the Grand Circuit in the Graduate Series for 4-year-old pacers. His best finish in the preliminary rounds was a second and he was fourth in the final, just edged for third by Act Fast.

Following the Graduate final, Seafire posted a win and a second in the Open at Scioto, a fourth-place finish from post eight in the Myron Charna President’s Pace at Northfield Park, and his triumph in the #SendItIn Invitational.

“I only staked him to some of the bigger races more toward the end of the year,” Brown said. “I didn’t stake him against the aged horses early in the year, I just staked him with the 4-year-olds and then here in Ohio.

“He hasn’t had a lot of starts. He’s getting stronger as the year goes on. The whole plan this year was to not over-race him and have him ready to go next year and see if he gets even better where he could race against the best horses.”

Does Brown see Seafire having that type of potential?

“I think so,” he said.

As for the rest of this season, Seafire is eligible to the Jim Ewart Memorial at Scioto, Dayton Pacing Derby, and Allerage Farms Open. He is not eligible to the Breeders Crown, so a $72,000 supplemental payment would be required to participate.

“He’d have to be racing really, really good to supplement him,” said Brown, who trains Seafire for owners Country Club Acres, Joelyn Ridder, Mark Kantrowitz, and Scott Davis. “It’s a lot of money to put up to race against those older horses.”

Seafire will start Saturday’s OHSS championship from post four. Act Fast, the Charna President’s Pace winner, is the 5-2 second choice for driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. and trainer Ron Burke. He will leave from post three.

The seven-horse field also includes Charlie May (McArdle-Stipple Hanover), a two-time OHSS champ (at ages 2 and 4). The 6-year-old will start from post six with Dan Noble driving for trainer Steve Carter and is 7-2 on the morning line.

In the OHSS championship for older female pacers, My Red Sea (Downbytheseaside-My Hare Lady) is the 6-5 morning-line favorite for driver Eric Goodell and trainer Jason Irwin. The 4-year-old has won nine of 19 races this year and enters the race off a 1:50.1 victory in the Open for fillies and mares last week at Scioto.

Refined (Uncle Peter-Reinvent) is the even-money favorite in the OHSS championship for older female trotters. The 8-year-old beat the boys in the Open at Scioto last week and has earned $1.11 million lifetime. She will leave from post two with Noble in the sulky for trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. She captured an OHSS title at age 6.

The field also includes two-time OHSS title-winner Rose Run Yolanda (Triumphant Caviar-Rose Run Keepsake ). The 4-year-old will start from post three with Austin Hanners driving for trainer Todd Luther. She is 6-1 on the morning line.

Prior to the main card, the OHSS championship for older male trotters will be contested as a non-wagering event. The five-horse group includes 6-year-old Winning Ticket and 5-year-old The Mighty Hill, who both won an OHSS crown in 2021.

Racing begins at 5:52 p.m. (EDT) at Eldorado Scioto Downs, with the non-wagering race scheduled for 5:40 p.m. For free race programs, visit the track’s website.

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA