Columbus, OH — Track records were set in back-to-back races Friday (Aug. 8) at Eldorado Scioto Downs.
Oh Look Magic and Sam Widger equaled the track and North American records for older (5 years old and upward) trotting geldings on a five-eighths-mile track, stopping the timer in 1:50.2. Leaving from their assigned post nine in the $20,000 Open II, the pair was parked through the :27 opening quarter before they made the lead. Setting fractions of :54.4 and 1:22.2, Oh Look Magic came home in :28 to win by 2-1/4 lengths over Adamsville Road (Luke Hanners).
Ron Burke trains Oh Look Magic for Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi. The 5-year-old gelding by Lookslikeachipndale is out of the Kadabra mare Miami Magic and was bred by Glengate Farms. The win Friday smashed Oh Look Magic’s previous lifetime mark of 1:52.2. The gelding now has 16 wins in 73 lifetime starts and $457,196 in earnings.
Just one race earlier, Shadows Dancers rewrote the Scioto history books just shy of a month after she had previously set the track record for older mare pacers. Friday’s win in 1:48 was two-fifths of a second faster than her 1:48.2 win four starts ago. Dan Noble took Shadows Dancers straight to the top from post five in the $25,000 Fillies and Mares Open Handicap Pace and set fractions of :26, :53.4 and 1:20.4 before coming home in :27.1 to win by 3-1/2 lengths.
Christi Noble trains Shadows Dancers for Howard Taylor and Chris McGuire. The 6-year-old daughter of Always B Miki is out of the Shadow Play mare Dancing Shadows K. She now has 22 lifetime wins in 90 starts and $290,699 in earnings.
Racing at Scioto continues on Saturday (Aug. 9) with a 12-race card. The first Super Hi-5 of the evening, in race four, will be bolstered by a $2,589 carryover from Friday’s program, when the wager in the finale was not hit.
The 90-day 2025 Eldorado Scioto Downs race meet runs through Saturday, Sept. 13. Races are held Tuesday-Saturday with a 5:45 p.m. first post. A special late first post of 6:45 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12, will help accommodate horsepeople attending the Ohio Selected Yearling Sale. More information about racing at Scioto can be found on the Eldorado Scioto Downs website.