by Kimberly Rinker, OSDF Administrator

Northfield, OH — Cooler temperatures and a lovely summer atmosphere at Northfield Park set the stage for a trio of $40,000 leg two Ohio Sires Stakes for freshman pacing fillies. A total of 23 laterally-gaited distaffs lined up behind the starting gate.

JJ Zamaiko photo

Rylee Roo set a new track record of 1:53.3 in the first OSS division.

Rylee Roo, a Pet Rock-Moonlite Delite lass, set a new track record of 1:53.3 in the first OSS division, taking a tick off the previous mark of 1:53.4 set by Shakewhatmamagaveu in 2017. The 4-1 choice left the gate deftly for Aaron Merriman, stalking the leading 1-2 favorite Mi Nina Bonita (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) to the :56.4 half, before taking over the lead and sprinting home to prevail by 1-1/2 lengths over her aforementioned rival. Jason Thompson guided 60-1 longshot Officially My Way up to notch third-place money.

Bred and owned by Steven Price, Rylee Roo has $20,000 in career earnings. The OSS victory was her first in two lifetime starts, as she was sixth in OSS leg one on July 6 at Scioto Downs to Lofty Beach.

Rylee Roo is the second foal out of the Western Hanover mare Moonlite Delight p,1:51.3f ($278,548).

Delaware owner Frank Chick’s Queen Of The Pride didn’t disappoint her backers after leaving the gate as the 1-9 overwhelming public favorite, scoring a wire-to-wire triumph in 1:54.3, making her a two-time OSS victress. The big rangy filly, equipped with spreaders, appeared at times to struggle in the turns, but then seemed confident in the straightaways for driver Tony Hall as she upped her career earnings to $46,500 in an unchallenged effort.

Trained by Kevin Lare, Queen Of The Pride held off a determined 7-2 Carmen Ohio (Ryan Stahl) by 1-1/2 lengths, with 50-1 longshot How About Murph (Jeff Nisonger) getting up for third.

Bred by Brad Wallace, Queen Of The Pride is by McArdle, out of the Western Ideal mare Lionness Hanover p,2,1:53 ($21,280), making her a half-sister to Roaring To Go (by Art Major) p,2,1:50.4 ($431,999).

The final OSS division of the evening proved to be the most exciting as a blanket finish saw 25-1 longshot Sugar And Spite (Tyler Smith) best 13-1 Twinsburg (Anthony MacDonald) by a neck in 1:55.2. Rose Run Uptowngal (Chris Page) was third at 5-2 odds, a quarter-length back.

Trained by Mary Birkhold for Tom Lehmann, the Pet Rock filly sat mid-pack behind the leading Twinsburg before moving three-wide at the three-quarters to prevail with a gutsy :28 final brush. Sugar And Spite had finished third in OSS leg one at Scioto Downs on July 6 and now has career earnings of $26,000.

Bred by Midland Acres, she is the 12th foal out of the prolific Towner’s Big Guy mare Tre Cress and has half-siblings in Peenie (by Real Artist) p,4,1:50.4 ($710,021); Chotat Milk (by Jate Lobell) p,3,1:51 ($602,852); and Tre Bien (by Nobleland Sam) p,1:52f ($383,181).

Ohio Sires Stakes continue this coming Friday night at Scioto Downs, with nine $40,000 divisions for 2-year-old trotting colts and fillies. Post time is 6:30 p.m.