Columbus, OH — Six divisions of the Buckeye Stallion Series for 3-year-old colt trotters were held on Friday (May 23) at Eldorado Scioto Downs. The fastest division went to Vandy Lane, by What The Hill, who went in 1:54.3.
Parked from post three, Vandy Lane (Brett Miller) kept trotting to the front after the :27.3 opening quarter. Hitting the beam in :55.2 and 1:24.1, Vandy Lane fended off the bit by My Next Chapter (Aaron Merriman) to draw off, winning by three lengths. Full Moon Howl (Ronnie Gillespie) got up for third.
Vandy Lane is owned by David and Cody Vanderhyde and trained by Scott Cox. The homebred now has three wins in 10 lifetime starts.
Other $20,000 divisions of the Buckeye Stallion Series were won by: Jet Wings (Miller) in 1:55; I Stand Alone AS (Tony Hall) in 1:57.3; Tommy Count (Trevor Smith) in 1:56; Born To Trot (Chris Page) in 1:56 and Rose Run Ari (Austin Hanners) in 1:55.1.
In other racing action Friday at Scioto, Fearless Ginger (Page) took the $26,000 fillies and mares open pace in 1:50.2 for trainer Ron Burke. The Fear The Dragon 4-year-old is owned by Burke Racing and Weaver Bruscemi. A winner of 14 races from 44 lifetime starts, Fearless Ginger now has $282,900 in lifetime earnings.
The $27,000 Open Trot was won by the 4-year-old mare Sugar Instead. Sam Widger left with the Virgil Morgan, Jr. trainee from post five but as horses on the outside continued to leave heading towards the 27.1 opening quarter, the pair settled in fourth. Sugar Instead was second over shortly after the half, following the cover of No Nap Nash (Dan Noble). Going three-wide around the last turn, Sugar Instead won by a length in 1:53.1 over Scottish (Aaron Merriman). Owned by Joyce McClelland Stable and Larry Wills, the Volstead mare has 23 wins in 31 lifetime starts and $932,164 in lifetime earnings.
Racing continues Saturday (May 24) at Scioto with 16 races, eight of which are Buckeye Stallion Series divisions for 3-year-old colt pacers. The $27,000 Open Pace sees Seafire, driven by Beau Brown, make his first start of 2025. The 2024 #SendItIn winner is 4/1 on the morning line for trainer Brian Brown.
The 90-day 2025 Eldorado Scioto Downs race meet runs through Saturday, September 13. Races will be held Tuesday-Saturday, with special holiday cards on Memorial Day and Labor Day. First post is at 5:45 p.m. each day except for Memorial Day (4 p.m.), June 19 (4 p.m.), Thursday, July 4 (3:15 p.m.) and Friday, September 12, which will have a 6:45 p.m. post to help accommodate horsemen attending the Ohio Selected Yearling Sale. More information about racing at Scioto can be found on the Eldorado Scioto Downs website.