by Kimberly Rinker, OSFD Administrator

Lebanon, OH — Ohio-bred 3-year-old colts and geldings will go postward in seven $40,000 Ohio Sire Stakes (OSS) Leg One divisions on Tuesday afternoon at Miami Valley Raceway. Post time is 2:05 p.m. with the first OSS event scheduled as race two.

Conrad photo

McRaven, who won the Hackett Memorial last weekend, is one of seven horses in Tuesday OSS action at Miami Valley for Brian Brown.

Three divisions of sophomore trotters (races two, four and six) and four divisions of pacers (races three, seven, 10 and 12) will be contested, featuring many of last season’s top performers in the OSS competition. Trainer Brian Brown will harness seven contestants in five OSS events consisting of six pacers and one trotter.

“We have 84 horses in training right now at the Delaware County Fairgrounds,” Brown explained. “Of those 84, two are trotters, one 2-year-old and one 3-year-old. We train in Florida over the winter months—leaving here in late Nov. and return the first of April.”

Brown’s lone trotter in Tuesday’s OSS races is Robert H, a son of Dejarmbro—Keystone Twilight, that made one start as a freshman, albeit a winning effort at the Madison County Fair. Robert H starts in the first division, race two, fresh off a front-stepping 1:58.1 triumph at Miami Valley on April 24, while facing seven rivals for Ohio owners Jennifer and Brian Brown, Richard Lombardo and Chris McCown.

“This horse is a little close to my heart, as he’s named after my father,” Brown related. “He’s a skinny, long-legged horse and he’s showed us he’s got some talent, so I think he fits well in this first sires stake.”

Hackett winner McRaven—who won that contest on April 22 in 1:51.4—starts from post one in race three for Brown. This gelded son of McArdle won a pair of OSS events in mid-season for Country Club Acres and L&H Management Services.

“He had a foot that was bothering him earlier and was bearing out a bit in his last start, and we’ve been working on trying to correct that issue,” Brown said. “But we’ve got a good post and he should be good on Tuesday.”

White Jet—another lightly-raced Brown pupil—starts from post three in this same race for the Emerald Highlands Farm. The grey son of The Panderosa won his first start of 2017 in an impressive 1:53.2 at Hoosier Park.

“White Jet is a really nice colt and has been a pleasant surprise,” Brown noted. “He didn’t have a good 2-year-old season and has really matured into a nice individual.”

The appropriately-named Lightning Onmyfeet is Brown’s seventh race contestant. This speedy son of McArdle paced to a winning 1:52.4 on April 25 in a Miami Valley overnight for owners Erv Miller Stable, D. Robinson, J&T Silva Stables and Stable 45. The bay colt has had just four starts in his career with two wins. He faces the 2016 OSS Championship winner Scotch McEwan, another son of McArdle owned by Xenia’s Carl Atley and trained by Bill Dailey, who is making his seasonal debut in this OSS division.

“Lightning Onmyfeet cracked a P-1 last year,” Brown explained. “Erv (Miller) was really high on him until that happened. He’s got a world of talent and I expect he’ll be even stronger than he was in his last start.”

Officially Creek, an Art Official gelding owned by Debbie Bird, makes his 3-year-old debut for Brown in race 10. A winner of $53,315 last year, the bay gelding won an OSS leg at Northfield on Aug. 24.

“This colt just got here from Canada a few days ago and is a brother to Bolder Creek,” Brown said. “I don’t think he’s quite as tight as he needs to be and it might take him a few starts to get up to the speed of the rest of these in his division. He’s a great big horse—very tall and long-legged and just towers over everybody else in the barn.”

Brown’s last two contestants—Barnabas and McThriller—vie from posts eight and nine in race 12. These two McArdle geldings are both making their seasonal debuts—coming into OSS action fresh off impressive qualifying efforts. Barnabas, a winner of $84,064 lifetime, paced to a 1:55.2 winning effort on April 26 with Tyler Smith in the sulky, while McThriller, who earned $113,022 last season, paced in 1:55.1 on the same date.

“Both of these colts drew poorly,” Brown acknowledged. “That makes their job tough. Barnabas had an open bridle in the Hackett as we wanted to calm him down a bit and he got too calm. He wasn’t focused at all, so we put the blinds back on him and he qualified much better and was much more willing to go forward.”

Barnabas is owned by the Ohio quartet of Country Club Acres, Joe Sbrocco, Richard Lombado and William Robinson.

“McThriller is a very nice colt who got good late in his 2-year-old season,” Brown said. “He’s a great horse to have the barn—he loves everyone and is just a big pet.”

NR Holdings, TLP Stable and Howard Taylor are the trio of McThriller owners.