Grove City, OH – Sugar Instead is on a quest to become Ohio’s newest millionaire. The latest step in that journey is the Ohio Sires Stakes Veterans Championships on Saturday (Aug. 30) at Eldorado Scioto Downs. Among her competition is millionaire stablemate Refined.
Brad Conrad photo.
Scioto is hosting four $100,000 divisions of the OSS Veterans Championships, which are designated for Ohio-sired horses who are at least 4-years-old. There is one division each for aged horse/gelding pacers and trotters and aged mare pacers and trotters.
As the early 2-1 favorite, Refined (Dan Noble) highlights the division for aged mare trotters. Sugar Instead (Tyler Smith) is the 5-1 third choice behind Jurassic Hattie (Brett Miller) at 5-2.
In 150 career starts, Refined has 51 wins, 33 seconds, and 16 thirds with $1,292,087 in earnings. Trained by Virgil Morgan Jr., the 9-year-old Uncle Peter mare out of Reinvent has hit the board in eight of 12 starts with five wins this season after winning the Ohio Breeders Championship and OSS Veterans Championship in 2024. She set a lifetime best of 1:51.2 as an 8-year-old and matched it this season.
Morgan Jr. stablemate Sugar Instead enters Saturday with $978,344 in earnings, and a top-two finish will put her over $1 million. The 4-year-old Volstead mare out of Sugar Pop has had a well decorated career, hitting the board in 35 of 42 starts with 24 victories. Named the 2-Year-Old Filly Trotter of the Year in 2023, she went on to earn Ohio Horse of the Year and 3-Year-Old Filly Trotter of the Year accolades in 2024 when she won the Ohio Triple Crown. She has two wins, three seconds, and five thirds in 14 starts this season and posted a lifetime-best 1:52.2 on July 18 at Scioto. Sugar Instead and Refined will leave side-by-side from posts five and six, respectively, and are owned by Joyce McClelland Stable and Larry Wills. Jurassic Hattie is a 4-year-old Volstead gelding trained by Stacey Van Huizen. On July 12, she set a new track record for 4-year-old trotting mares at Scioto, posting a 1:51.2. She has four wins in 13 starts this season and set a lifetime best of 1:50.4 at Miami Valley Raceway on April 30. Owned by Jerry Welch, she has hit the board in 26 of 33 lifetime starts with 13 wins and $516,594 in earnings.
Fearless Ginger (Aaron Merriman) opened as the 2-1 favorite in the division of aged mare pacers ahead of 5-2 second choice High Flyin’ Filly (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.). Trained by Ron Burke, Fearless Ginger is a 4-year-old Fear The Dragon mare with 18 career wins and earnings of $351,060 in 52 starts. She has seven wins, two seconds, and two thirds in 16 starts this season and recorded a lifetime-best 1:49.1 at Scioto on July 18. She will leave from the far outside. Burke stablemate High Flyin’ Filly is a 5-year-old Domethatagain mare with 26 wins and $426,887 in earnings in 91 lifetime starts. She has four wins, four seconds, and four thirds in 21 seasonal starts and recorded her lifetime best of 1:49.3 last season at Scioto. Both horses are owned by Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi.
Spaaaanzano (Chris Page), winner of the Next Generation in 2023, has $663,628 in career earnings and is the 2-1 morning line favorite in the division of aged horse and gelding trotters. Now 4 years old, the Coraggioso gelding has hit the board in eight of 14 seasonal starts and set a lifetime best of 1:53.1 on Aug. 22 at Scioto. He has 12 wins, nine seconds, and three thirds in 34 career starts. He is trained by Chris Beaver, who co-owns him with Spaaaartners, Bill Manes, and Leo Fleming. Beaver stablemate Caviar Gold (Merriman) is the 5-2 second choice. The 6-year-old Triumphant Caviar gelding has hit the board in seven of 15 starts with four wins this season and has recorded 21 victories, 17 seconds, and 10 thirds with $697,158 in earnings in 75 career starts. He posted his lifetime best of 1:51.3 last season at Dayton Raceway and is owned by Beaver, Manes, Fleming, and Steven Zeehandelar. Hung Over, the 2024 Ohio Sires Stakes champion as a 3-year-old, is listed as the first horse also eligible.
Paris’s Dragon (Noble) is the early 2-1 favorite in the division for aged horse and gelding pacers. Trained by Christi Noble, the 4-year-old Fear The Dragon gelding has hit the board in six of 10 seasonal starts with four wins and two seconds and posted a lifetime best of 1:49.1 at Scioto on May 31. He has $524,747 in career earnings with 15 wins, nine seconds, and four thirds in 40 starts and is owned by Dennis Owens and Norman Rae Racing. The 5-2 second choice is Burke trainee Racing Rebel (Page), who will leave from the far outside. The 4-year-old son of Racing Hill has hit the board in 10 of 13 starts with seven victories this season and recorded a lifetime-best 1:48.2 on Aug. 2 at Scioto. Owned by Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Chris Page, and Marjorie Polhamus, he has 15 wins, eight seconds, and nine thirds with $394,742 in earnings in 46 lifetime starts. Charlie May, who won the 2024 OSS Veterans Championship for horse and gelding pacers, is listed as the second horse also eligible.
The Ohio Sires Stakes Veterans Championships are part of a 16-race card at Eldorado Scioto Downs on Saturday that also includes three $50,000 divisions of the OSS for 2-year-old colt pacers. First-race post time is 5:45 p.m.