Volstead filly completes Ohio triple crown in $300,000 Championship

One of the stars of the Ohio Sires Stakes program as both a rookie and a sophomore, Sugar Instead (Volstead) completed a Triple Crown harness racing season with a 1:55.2 triumph in the $300,000 Ohio Sires Stakes Scarlet Championship for 3-year-old fillies on Saturday night at MGM Northfield Park.

Driver Brett Miller floated away with Sugar Instead from post four, and once the dust settled, drove her on two-wide to take the top spot away from Jurassic Hattie (Tyler Smith) after the 29.1 quarter-mile marker. Createaqueen (Dan Noble) came with a big brush out of fourth in the second quarter and took the lead on the outside from Sugar Instead past the 58 4/5 half. Createaqueen couldn’t clear, though, and then broke on the third turn, putting Sugar Instead back in charge.

Legacy Affair (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) was the next challenger to Sugar Instead on the outside heading to the 1:27 three-quarters, but Sugar Instead dealt with that bid with little issue and went on to defeat Jurassic Hattie by a length. Legacy Affair wound up third.

“What do you say? Every time I think ‘well, I don’t know if she can do it again,’ and she just does it again,” said Dick McClelland, who owns Sugar Instead with his wife Joyce and their partner Larry Wills. Tonight they tried her and they tried her a lot. She’s a very nice horse. I’ve got a really great partner. He puts up with me a little bit, and we’ve had a great season with her.

“As best as I know, we are going to the Breeders Crown.”

SUGAR INSTEAD REPLAY

Sugar Instead, trained by Virgil Morgan Jr., has 19 wins, two seconds and a third 23 efforts, has put away $866,014 and returned $2.20 to win as the 1-9 favorite. Sugar Instead was bred by Elmer Miller.

It was one of three trotting championship wins for Miller, who also guided fellow Morgan Jr. trainee Aunt Laura to victory in their $300,000 Ohio Sires Stakes Scarlet Championships for trotters and then added a third title with Daren Harvey-trained Lt Loverboy. Hung Over, driven by Dan Noble, won the remaining trotting Championship.

In the championship for 2-year-old fillies, Miller and 15-1 shot Aunt Laura (Uncle Peter), who was also bred and is owned by the McClellands, led through panels of 28.1, 58 and 1:26.3 on her way to a 3 3/4 length victory in 1:56.1. 2-5 favorite Mocha Hill (Chris Page) went three-wide from second-over on the final turn but had to settle for runner-up honors and Aunt Lilly (Anthony MacDonald) turned a pocket trip into a third-place result.

“I’ve liked her all along since we broke her. She was just immature, but she always had talent,” Morgan Jr. said post-race. “When she got through the first turn, I felt really good. Again, she’s shown sparks of this, but she put it all together tonight, which is the right night to do it.

“Joyce and Dick McClelland, I can’t say enough about them. They do a great job at their farm raising these horses, and they bring them to me. There’s pedigree there. Their broodmares are excellent and it shows when they race. It’s just a pleasure to train for them.”

AUNT LAURA REPLAY

Aunt Laura has a trio of tallies from nine outings, has banked $229,250 and paid $33.80 to win.

Miller’s third championship came with Lt Loverboy (Long Tom) via placing in the Championship for 2-year-old colts and geldings.

Battle Hill (Chris Lems) worked his way around Hilltop Sonar (Page) nearing the 27.3 quarter, and when Hilltop Sonar broke on the second turn while trying to re-move, that left Battle Hill on the lead. While that was going on up front, Scrappys Love (Mike Wilder) would commit to an extended first-over move out of fourth before the 57.4 half, and that gave cover to Lt Loverboy, who wound up parked from post seven. Scrappys Love continued to make forward progress on the rim and was nose-to-nose with Battle Hill at the 1:27 three-quarters while Lt Loverboy was out three-wide.

Scrappys Love forged his way by Battle HIll for good before they entered the stretch drive and dug in gamely, but he shifted out in the closing strides, bothering Lt Loverboy in the process. So, even though Scrappys Love hit the wire half a length ahead of Lt Loverboy in a 1:57.3 performance, the judges would move Scrappys Love to second and promote Lt Loverboy to the victory after an inquiry. Oso Fast (David Miller) went across the wire off-stride in third and was also moved back to fifth, elevating Battle Hill from fourth to third.

“There were a few breakers earlier, and that changed the whole race,” Brett Miller offered after the victory. “When Chris Page’s horse made a break, that really changed it for us. My colt raced awesome.”

LT LOVERBOY REPLAY

Bred by Midland Acres Inc., Lt Loverboy is owned by Wayne Mast Jr. and Callam Racing LLC. Lt Loverboy has a summary of 6-3-1 from 10 appearances, has pocketed $304,855 and returned $3.60 to win.

The Championship for 3-year-old colts and geldings saw Spaaaanzano (Aaron Merriman) get to the front from post two, and he was tracked from the pocket by Hung Over (Creatine). Royal Precedent (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) also had early speed from post seven but wound up parked to the 27.4 quarter and would continue to pester Spaaaanzano on the outside through a 56.4 half and a 1:25.3 three-quarters.

Through the stretch Spaaaanzano was game on the lead and continued to keep the persistent Royal Precedent at bay, but Hung Over dove into the passing lane, and he had just enough time and just enough trot to get by Spaaaanzano at the end of the 1:55 3/5 mile, prevailing by a nose. Royal Precedent turned in a huge mile of his own at 55-1 to get third, just a length behind the top two.

“He shows up every time we race him, and he got the job done tonight,” remarked winning trainer Bob Stewart. “We trained his father, so it’s even more special. We’re partners with Mitchell Skolnick, who is one of my best friends. He bred the horse and was nice enough to let us get in on him. It’s been a good ride.

“I was a little worried about going up the inside because he hasn’t done that before, and some horses aren’t used to going to the inside. Danny didn’t have a lot of choice, and the stretch was just long enough.”

HUNG OVER REPLAY

As Stewart mentioned, Hung Over was bred by Skolnick’s Bluestone Farms. Lynda Stewart co-owns Hung Over, who made his eighth trip to the winner’s circle, has now earned $487,933 and paid $7.80 to win as the 5-2 third choice.

To read about the pacing championships, click here.

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

by DRF Harness, for the OHHA