Columbus, OH – Jailhouse Pearl and Brett Miller equaled the Eldorado Scioto Downs track record for 4-year-old trotting mares on Friday (July 3). The record of 1:51.2 was previously set in 2025 by Miller and Jurassic Hattie.
Bestfriend Volo (Sam Widger) set early fractions of :26.4 and :54.4 as Jailhouse Pearl got the pocket trip. After putting some separation between himself and the field by the half, the lead was cut down to a length by the 1:22.2 third quarter and Miller proceeded to pull Jailhouse Pearl to the outside. The pair made the lead midway through the last turn and trotted home in :28.3 to win by two and a half lengths. Abbey D (Luke Hanners) got up to be second while Bestfriend Volo finished third.
Jailhouse Pearl, the 2025 Ohio 3-year-old trotter of the year, is trained by Eric Nesselroad for owner/breeder Casey Clemons. By Long Tom out of the Jailhouse Jesse mare Jailhouse Broad, Jailhouse Pearl now has $399,549 earned in 36 lifetime starts. Friday’s victory was her 17th lifetime and established a new lifetime mark for her by a second.
Just one race earlier, 27-year-old Austin Hanners got his 1,000th driving victory behind Regal Idea, tripping the beam in 1:52.1 for trainer Michael Hitchock and owner William Hartt.
Hanners debuted as a driver at the Fayette County Fair in Washington Court House 10 years ago and finished second. His first lifetime victory came behind that same horse, Rehab Mountain, three weeks and eight starts later at the Mercer County Fair in Celina. His first pari-mutuel driving win was at Scioto with Perma Grin in August 2017.
“I used to be very timid, and I would say I’ve gotten a lot more aggressive,” said Hanners. “Hopefully I can do some more, but you have to get to a 1,000 before you can get anywhere else so it means a lot (to get here).”
During his 10-year racing career, Austin has 12,419 starts with $16.4-million in purse earnings. Horses he has driven have earned north of $3.2-million each year since 2023. His biggest purse victories were in the Breeders Crown Aged Mare Pace with Always B Naughty for trainer Todd Luther in 2025 at Woodbine Mohawk Park and behind Jailhouse Pearl in the Ohio Sires Stakes Championship.
Racing continues Saturday (July 4) with the highly anticipated $150,000 Next Generation events going postward for Ohio Sired freshmen. Going off as races 10-13, the 2-year-old races will be featured on Fox Sports TV, with Scioto’s own Jenna Otten providing trackside coverage.
The Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association’s Wes Mayberry featured Ronnie Gillispie’s bid for his third Next Generation trotting victory as a driver/trainer and also Knox Service’s search for win number nine as an owner in this article. Daily Racing Form’s Derick Giwner wrote an article, posted here, about Vernon Beachy’s search for his first Next Generation win with four starts in three of the divisions.
Also on tap during Saturday’s 16-race card are six Ohio Sires Stakes races for 3-year-old pacing and trotting fillies. First post is 5:25 p.m. and free program pages are available on the Scioto Downs website.
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.