Columbus, OH – Trainer Virgil Morgan, Jr. had four winners in the Buckeye Stallion Series events for 3-year-old colt pacers on Saturday (June 27) at Eldorado Scioto Downs. There were six total $20,000 divisions with the fastest going in 1:50.4, setting new lifetime marks for Morgan trained Odds On Sugar, as well as the Tim Lane trainee Yacht Rock.
Morgan’s four winners were Odds On Phil (Luke Hanners) in 1:51.2, Odds On Sugar (Hanners), Tsunami Seas (Brett Miller) in 1:51.4, and Odds On RPJ (Hanners) in 1:52.1; all but Odds On Phil were by Downbytheseaside.
The lone victorious Morgan trainee not by the Ohio standout stallion was Odds On Phil, by Lather Up out of the Somebeachsomewhere mare Beach Granny. Owned by Odds On Racing, Odds On Phil was a $16,000 Ohio Selected Yearling Sale purchase from breeder Larry Miller, who now has $65,350 earned in 13 lifetime starts with five victories. The 1:51.2 mile on Saturday was a new lifetime mark for Odds On Phil.
Odds On Racing also is the sole owner of Odds On RPJ, a Downbytheseaside gelding out of the Rock N Roll Heaven mare Odds On Ashley. Odds On RPJ now has five wins in 10 lifetime starts and $59,510 in earnings.
Odds On Sugar is also owned by Odds On Racing, in partnership with Sugar Valley Farm, Morgan and Operation Horsepower. The Downbytheseaside gelding out of the Badlands Hanover mare Laughandbehappy now has $111,731 earned in 14 starts with three wins, with Saturday’s victory coming in a new lifetime mark of 1:50.4.
Odds On Phil, Odds On Sugar and Odds On RPJ each won their division of the first leg of the Buckeye Stallion Series on May 9th before moving up to the Ohio Sires Stakes for the second leg.
Tsunami Seas, the other Morgan trainee also by Downbytheseaside, was an $80,000 Ohio Selected Yearling Sale purchase from County Club Acres and L&H Management Services. Now owned by Jeffrey Rector, Larry Wills and Hutchison Harness, Tsunami Seas has earned $73,925 in 13 lifetime starts and five wins. Tusnami Seas is out of the Riggins mare Foxy Rigger.
Yacht Rock, trained by Tim Lane for Columbus Yacht Club, is a Summa Cum Laude colt who took his new lifetime mark of 1:50.4 in the BSS. Out of the Rockin Amadeus mare Best Place To Rock, Yacht Rock was a $26,000 Ohio Selected Yearling Sale purchase from breeder Midland Acres. Guided Saturday by Marvin Luna, Yacht Rock now has two wins in 15 lifetime starts and $35,305 in earnings.
Catch The Fire was the sire of the last BSS divisional winner for the evening when his gelded son Brix’s On Fire (Tyler Smith) won in his new lifetime mark of 1:51. Out of the Pet Rock mare Maevynmarierocks, Brix’s On Fire is owned by breeders James Everhart and Kathy Smith. He now has three wins in 13 starts and $31,425 in earnings.
Also on the Saturday card were three divisions of the Buckeye Claiming Series, meant to be a second level of the BSS for 3-year-olds with a $25,000 claiming tag.
Bythemissal (Chris Page) won the $25,000 Open in 1:49 for trainer Ron Burke. The 7-year-old gelded son by Downbytheseaside out of the Wester Terror mare Dismissal is owned by Burke Racing, Eric Good, Rich Lombardo Racing and Weaver Bruscemi. The 32-time winner now has over $2.585-million earned in 63 lifetime starts. Surreal Ideal (Mike Wilder) was just a half length back finishing second while Clever Cody (Luke Ebersole) was third.
Coming up, there will be a 22 qualifying race card at Scioto Downs on Monday (June 29) and also three qualifiers on Tuesday (June 30) at 4:30 p.m. Racing continues on Tuesday (June 30) with a 15-race card with a 5:15 p.m. post time. There will be a $2,538 carryover for the Tuesday card for the $.20 Super Hi-5 in race four. All the Scioto Downs action, including qualifiers, can be streamed via RTN (www.rtn.tv) and free programs can be downloaded from the Scioto Downs website to follow along.
The 91-day 2026 Eldorado Scioto Downs regular season runs through Saturday, September 19. Races are held Tuesday-Saturday, with a special holiday card on Labor Day instead of the Tuesday card that week. The track will then re-open for the Breeders Crown, with eliminations held October 16-17 and the finals October 23-24. More information about all the racing action at Scioto can be found on the Eldorado Scioto Downs website.