Grove City, OH — The Hanners brothers, Luke and Austin, each collected a win in the Buckeye Stallion Series Monday (July 15) at MGM Northfield Park. The five $20,000 divisions of freshman pacing fillies closed out the first leg of the BSS.

Luke Hanners set the winning standard in the third division by driving Maa Honey to victory. Not to be outdone by his younger brother, Austin guided Racin Like A Star to the winner’s circle in the fourth division.

Luke Hanners drove Maa Honey to victory in the Buckeye Stallion Series. Diane Wise photo.

Maa Honey sat fifth, seven lengths off the lead at the half before moving into contention up the backstretch. The daughter of Well Said went three-wide around the final turn to grab the lead. At 8-1, Maa Honey kept her momentum going, opening up to win in 1:56.3 by 2-1/2 lengths. Tyler Bates trains the filly for Sean Mcghee and Suzanne Bates. The victory was the fourth career win in five starts for Maa Honey. Big Bad Beachbunny (Kurt Sugg) was second with Four Carat Rock (Dan Noble) finishing third.

In the next division, Austin Hanners made it look easy, taking 1-2 Racin Like A Star wire-to-wire for the win. The Racing Hill filly set fractions in :29, :58.4, and 1:28 before defeating brother Luke and Trunk Bay Hanover by a length in 1:57.1. It was the first career win for Racin Like A Star who is trained by Steve Carter and owned by Jeff Fought Racing, Adam Friedland, and Hunter Holton. Trunk Bay Hanover was second while Rose Run Alexandra (Anthony MacDonald) was third.

Pink Jammies with Hunter Myers took the first division in 1:58.2. After an early miscue from the 1-5 favorite Gorgeous Package, 12-1 Pink Jammies found herself in the lead for a brief moment. After settling into a pocket trip behind Whiskey Hill, the daughter of Fear The Dragon snuck into the passing lane to overtake her competitors in the final strides. It was the second win for Pink Jammies. Rosy Weaver trains and co-owns the filly alongside Heartland Acres. Gorgeous Package (MacDonald) rallied for second with Whiskey Hill (Luke Ebersole) third.

Maddie’s Delite raced to the lead out of the gate and never looked back in the second division. Driven by Noble, the 1-5 favorite fought off challenges down the backside to win in 1:56.2. It was the third win in four starts for the Lather Up filly. Carter trains for Scp Stable. It was a dead heat for second between Spinal Cracker (Trevor Smith) and Lily Grace Hill (Aaron Merriman).

In the final division of the night, Cameron McCown worked 9-1 Guard The Fire through the field from sixth place on the backside. The daughter of Catch The Fire went four-wide around the final turn and charged down the stretch to win by 2-1/2 lengths in 1:56.4. Guard The Fire was making her first career start for trainer Brian Brown. The filly is owned by Hutchison Harness. Fear My Heart (Luke Hanners) was second with Downbytheeastside (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) third.

Buckeye Stallion Series action continues Tuesday night (July 16) with the opening leg for 2-year-old filly trotters at Eldorado Scioto Downs. First race post time is 5:45 p.m.