by Anne Doolin for Scioto Downs

Columbus, OH – Trainer Jeff Miller shipped in three horses from his training base in Haviland, Ohio for Friday’s Ohio State Fair Stakes, and went home with a win, a second and a third. The State Fair Stakes, for Ohio-bred 2 and 3-year-olds, conclude Saturday night after paying out total purses of $675,000 over four nights at Scioto Downs.

He came close in the first race, one of three $20,000 divisions of the Ohio’s First Lady Pace for sophomore pacing fillies, when Evening Jet missed by a nostril. The grey Jet Laag filly, owned by the Jeff Miller Stable and Jeffery Phlipot, went three-wide at the three-quarters, suffered interference in the stretch, but still finished second to Western Bunny in 1:56.4.

Miller then sent out Docdor Skip in the first of three $22,400 Governor’s Cup Trot splits for 3-year-old trotting colts, and that son of Pegasus Spur was third.

It was Docdor Reece, another son of Pegasus Spur, in the second trot division that got Miller to the winner’s circle. Owned by the Jeff Miller Stable and Dorothy Miller, Docdor Reece went wire-to-wire for driver Jeff Nisonger to win by a length in 1:58. It was the colt’s fifth win in 11 outings this season.

Miller said he had 22 horses in training, the majority of who are Ohio-breds. “I have a couple of Pennsylvania-breds, and a Canadian-bred, but I like the Ohio program,” he said. Of Docdor Reese, the colt’s trainer and co-owner said, “I agree with what Jeff said when he got off the bike. ‘He’s a nice horse, but if he ever develops that killer instinct, he’ll be a really good horse.”

Miller, best known for training Eternal Camnation, who retired as the richest pacing mare of all time, said his star has produced two Real Artist fillies and is foal to Western Hanover. “Both fillies look just like her, especially the younger one. Looking at her out in the field, you would swear it was Eternal Camnation.

“We’ve been breeding her half brother to some of our mares at the farm, World Harvest [by Artsplace], and his first foals are yearlings this year,” he said. “I even started racing him again. He’s such a gentleman, I think you could put him on a trailer with a mare. He has a lot of class – if he passes it on to his foals, I think he’ll make a nice sire.”

Smarty Marty Z won the division where Miller was third, scoring by a nose in 1:58.2. Bob Harper drove for trainer Edward Rider and owner Fred Polk of Zanesville. The gelded son of Pegasus Spur, who took a new mark with the effort, was winning his fifth start of the year in 11 outings.

Heza Challenger, a son of Chip Chip Hooray, took the last division in impressive fashion, making a bold move at the half to nab the lead, then drawing off to win by three and a quarter in a new best 1:57.1. The gelding, trained and driven by Sam “Chip” Noble III for Robert Kauffman, is now four-for-five this year, after having just one start as a freshman.

Western Bunny, who captured the first of the filly paces in a 1:56.4 blanket finish, was notching her third straight. A daughter of Precious Bunny, she’s trained by James Mulinix for DM Stables LLC, W. Rufenacht and D. Miller. Russell Swartz drove.

Nip N Attack took the second division in wire-to-wire fashion, scoring by two and a quarter in 1:53.2, a tick better than her previous lifetime best. The speedy daughter of On The Attack is now seven-for-12 this season. Kyle Ater drove for trainer Virgil Morgan Jr., who co-owns with Jay Corey and David Habeger.

The final State Fair Stake of the night was well worth waiting for, as reigning divisional champ Osborne’s Gypsy showed the other sophomore fillies she was still boss. The daughter of On The Attack fended off numerous challengers to score her fourth win of the season. As she so often does, she went to the front and stayed there – scoring by two and a half in 1:53.4.

Ryan Stahl drove for trainer Eric Hamlet and owner Jerome T. Osborne of Mentor, Ohio. As a two-year-old, Osborne’s Gypsy won seven of eight and banked $125,282 during her championship season.

Eddie Kirk to be Honored at Scioto

Lifelong Ohio horseman, 91-year-old Eddie Kirk, will be honored at Scioto Downs on Saturday, August 4 — aptly the closing night of Ohio States Fair Stakes action. Kirk will receive a Special Appreciation Award from the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association following the third race.

Kirk is the man most responsible for the Ohio State Fair Stakes moving to Scioto Downs when they were discontinued at the state fairgrounds in the late 1980s. He suggested to then GM Bob Steele that the races find a new home at Scioto Downs, and since then, the stakes events for Ohio-bred 2 and 3-year-olds have been some of the most eagerly-anticipated races of the season.

Kirk served as a long-term member of the Ohio Exposition Commission; spent years as the President of the Fayette County Fair Board; and was also President of the Ohio Fair Managers Association. He also served as presiding judge at numerous county fair race meets.

As an owner/breeder, among his best horses was Times Square, who finished second and fifth to Adios Harry in the 1954 Little Brown Jug. Times Square also won the 1955 Hollywood Park Pacing Derby en route to Ohio Horse of the Year honors that season. Other standout horses for Kirk were Cupid Stupid, voted Mare of the Year in 1992, and Countess Song, who was the dam of $1 million earner Speedy Count.

In addition to his harness racing activities, Kirk operated a large farm, and Kirk’s Furniture in Washington Court House, where he and his wife Mary reside.