Columbus, OH — Hungry Lizzo and Spitfire Oversees started the weekend off right at Eldorado Scioto Downs with Little Rocket Man capping off a great third weekend in the open events at the south Columbus oval.

Carbine (Austing Hanners) left out of the eight hole and went straight to the front during a :25.4 opening quarter in the $27,000 Open Pace on Saturday (May 25).

Little Rocket Man prevailed by a half-length in 1:49. Conrad photo.

Little Rocket Man (Jeremy Smith) settled in fifth from post nine and came first up before the :54.2 half. By the 1:21.4 third quarter, Little Rocket Man was challenging Carbine and the pair duked it out down the stretch with Little Rocket Man prevailing by a half-length in 1:49. Carbine was second with Makin Some Noise (Tony Hall) finishing third.

Little Rocket Man is trained by Ken Rucker for owners Russell Beeman and Jack Freeman. The 8-year-old gelded son of Rockin Image now has four wins in six seasonal starts and $1,172,799 in lifetime earnings.

Hungry Lizzo (Smith) won the $26,000 Fillies and Mares Open Pace on Friday (May 24) in 1:51.4 for owner Brad Delaney and trainer Deb Swartz. Pocket sitter Prosecco Princess (Hall) finished second while Alexa Skye (Dan Noble) who set early fractions of :26.3, :56.2 and 1:24 held on for third.

Spitfire Oversees (Brett Miller) made it two in a row in the $26,000 Open Trot at Scioto in 1:51.3. Flemsteen finished just a length back for Tyler Smith, with Scorecard Dan (Sam Widger) getting up for third. Stacey Van Huizen trains the 4-year-old ridgling by International Moni for Thestable Spitfireovrsees.

Wagering at Scioto continues to increase, with more than $2.3 million wagered in the first 13 days of the racing season compared to the 2023 season. And while the box continues to be full, allowing Scioto to card 16 races a day, the overwhelming entries have subsided.

“For the draws conducted this week, the box is still averaging (more than 100), but that is a manageable number,” said Scioto’s Director of Racing, Jason Roth. “We want our horsemen to be able to get in every week, to get their horses raced. We still have full, competitive fields and are striving to put the best program out there each and every race night.”

Scioto has a special Memorial Day card on Monday (May 27) with a scheduled post time of 5:45 p.m. Dubbed a free family fun night, there will be inflatables and food trucks to complement the live racing program.

The $30,000 finals of the Overcomer trot and the Nobleland Sam and Falcon Almahurst paces headline the card. All three series were for Buckeye Stallion Series eligible horses who did not race in the first leg of the Ohio Sires Stakes.

Before the race card, there will be six qualifiers starting at 3:45 p.m.

Free program pages are available on the Scioto Downs website for all live race cards, including qualifiers.

The 90-day 2024 Eldorado Scioto Downs race meet runs through Sept. 14. More information about racing at Scioto can be found on the Eldorado Scioto Downs website.