Top pacers to battle in $135,000 Jim Ewart Memorial

The 8th Annual Jim Ewart Memorial for older male harness racing pacers will be at Eldorado Scioto Downs on Saturday (Sept 11). The purse was boosted to $135,000 from the est. $125,000 advertised amount with the $10,000 supplement of a horse by Black Magic Racing.

Todd Luther trains the supplemented horse Dojean Gizmo who will be driven by Trevor Smith, as well as the morning line favorite, Catch The Fire, who will be driven by Mike Wilder. Wilder last drove Catch The Fire in the Progress Pace at Dover Downs on November 25, 2020 after driving him for all of his 3-year-old starts for then trainer John Ackley.

Black Magic Racing purchased majority interest in Catch The Fire in January 2021 and stood him at stud this spring. The 4-year-old stud covering 86 mares while at Sugar Valley Farms in Delaware, Ohio and then was driven by owner Greg Luther in his first qualifier of 2021 at Scioto on May 11.

Since then Catch The Fire has 7 wins in 12 starts with over $450,000 earned this season, including wins in the Sam McKee Memorial and Dan Patch. He was second in the Canadian Pacing Derby his last time out on September 4, pacing his mile in 1:49.3.

The second favorite, at 7/2, is This Is The Plan, a 6-year-old gelding trained by Ron Burke and who will be driven by Chris Page. This Is The Plan finished a couple lengths behind Catch The Fire in the Canadian Pacing Derby, finishing third, but has wins in the Borgata Final, the Battle of Lake Erie, the Roll With Joe and the Joe Gerrity Memorial which gives him $713,244 on the year going into Saturday’s Ewart.

Workin Ona Mystery and Ronnie Wrenn, Jr. are set as the 9/2 third choice on the morning line for trainer Brian Brown. The 5-year-old horse won the #SendItIn Invitational two weeks ago at Scioto in 1:49.1. In just seven starts going into the Ewart, Workin Ona Mystery has $91,223 earned but seems to be coming into top form having peeled off three straight sub-1:50 miles, all in the month of August.

The rest of the undercard for the evening highlighted by the Jim Ewart Memorial includes a $23,000 open pace, five divisions of the Buckeye Stallion Series (BSS) for 2-year-old colt pacers and three BSS divisions for 3-year-old pacing fillies. First post is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.

From Eldorado Scioto Downs