Grove City, OH – Through four legs of the Ohio Sires Stakes for sophomore filly pacers, Virgil Morgan Jr. stablemates Odds On Chesapeake and Odds On Hialeah are deadlocked in the standings with 179 points each. They each have three OSS wins on the season and are looking to add one more as Eldorado Scioto Downs hosts two $65,000 divisions of the fifth leg for 3-year-old filly pacers on Saturday (Sept. 6).
Those two races are part of six $65,000 OSS divisions for sophomores, as the card also includes two each for male and filly trotters.
In three of the four OSS legs thus far, Odds On Chesapeake and Odds On Hialeah have been in separate divisions. But there was just one division in the fourth leg at MGM Northfield Park on Aug. 10, and Odds On Hialeah came out on top by more than two lengths over Odds On Chesapeake in 1:52.1. That proved to be a bounce-back victory for Odds On Hialeah after finishing as the runner-up to Rose Run Aimee in the second division of the third leg.
The stablemates will once again be in separate divisions on Saturday. Each is the even-money morning-line favorite in their respective six-horse fields, and each will be driven by Dexter Dunn.
Odds On Hialeah will leave from post five in the first division. Prior to her win in the fourth leg of the OSS, the Lather Up filly posted victories in the first leg at Scioto in a lifetime-best 1:50.3 and second leg at Northfield in 1:51.2. She has hit the board in 13 of 14 lifetime starts with 11 wins and two seconds to go with $496,500 in earnings. Fellow Lather Up filly Rylee Too (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) is the 3-1 second choice in the division. Trained by Steve Carter, she has two wins, three seconds, and five thirds in 11 starts this season and will leave from the rail.
Odds On Chesapeake will leave from post four, in between 3-1 co-second choices The Word Is Out (Chris Page) and Rose Run Aimee (Dan Noble) in posts three and five, respectively, in the second division. The Downbytheseaside filly has hit the board in eight of nine starts this season with seven wins and one second. She posted OSS wins in the first leg in 1:51.1, second leg in a lifetime-best 1:50, and third leg in 1:50.4 before her runner-up finish in leg four. She has 11 wins and three seconds with $392,700 in earnings in 19 lifetime starts. Ron Burke trainee The Word Is Out has a pair of third-place finishes in the OSS this year, recording them in the first and fourth legs. Rose Run Aimee has hit the board in nine of 10 seasonal starts with five wins. Her third-leg victory came in a lifetime-best 1:49.4.
The first of two divisions for sophomore male trotters features a loaded five-horse field led by 7-5 morning-line favorite Lt Loverboy (Brett Miller), who leads the standings with 166 points. After finishing third in the opening leg of the OSS, the Daren Harvey trainee posted a victory in each of the next three legs in 1:52.4, 1:52.1, and 1:54.2, respectively. Named Ohio’s 2-Year-Old Trotter of the Year in 2024, the Long Tom gelding has hit the board in 17 of 18 lifetime starts with 10 wins and $458,660 in earnings. Leaving from the far outside, Vekna, driven by trainer Kayne Kauffman, is the 3-1 second choice. He has hit the board in seven of eight seasonal starts with three wins, including one in the first leg in 1:56.3. The field also includes Matthew Burkholder trainee Battle Hill (Wrenn Jr.) – an OSS winner in the first and second legs in 1:56.3 and 1:54.4, respectively – and the Burke-trained Hilltop Sonar (Page), who posted a win in the fourth leg in 1:55.2.
Morgan Jr. trainee Jet Wings (Dunn) is the 3-2 morning-line favorite in the second division. A winner in the third leg in 1:54, the What The Hill gelding was a runner-up in both the second and fourth legs. He has hit the board in 24 of 29 lifetime starts with nine wins and $190,745 in earnings. He will leave from the rail next to 2-1 second choice Scrappys Love. Trained by Chris Beaver, Scrappys Love has three wins, two seconds, and three thirds in 10 seasonal starts. He was a runner-up in the first and third legs and placed third in the fourth leg.
In the second division of sophomore filly trotters, two-time OSS winner Aunt Laura (Miller) opened as the 5-2 favorite and will leave from post five next to 3-1 second choice Dream Something (Tyler Smith) in post four. Aunt Laura, who posted wins in the first and second legs in 1:56.3 and 1:54, respectively, was a runner-up in the fourth leg and is second in the standings with 129 points to leader Dream Something with 141 points. Trained by Morgan Jr., Aunt Laura is an Uncle Peter filly with seven career wins and $350,165 in earnings. Fellow Uncle Peter filly Dream Something has OSS wins in the first and fourth legs in 1:53.3 and 1:56.2, respectively. The Miles Wollam trainee placed third in the second leg and was a runner-up in the third leg. She has hit the board in 12 of 16 lifetime starts with eight wins and $257,523 in earnings. The Eric Nesselroad-trained Jailhouse Pearl (Austin Hanners), a winner in the second leg in 1:54.4 with 13 career victories and $175,527 in earnings, will leave from post three.
In The End (Noble), a two-time OSS winner this season, is the 6-5 morning-line favorite in the first division and will leave from the rail. The Anette Lorentzon trainee has six wins in nine seasonal starts, including in the third and fourth legs of the OSS in 1:53.4 and 1:55.1, respectively. The Lionhunter filly has $144,950 in lifetime earnings. Beaver trainee Mega Money (Aaron Merriman), who posted a win in the third leg in 1:53.3, is the 5-2 second choice and will leave from the far outside. The Triumphant Caviar filly was the runner-up to Dream Something in the opening leg and placed third in the fourth leg. She has five wins in 11 seasonal starts with lifetime earnings of $256,303.
The Ohio Sires Stakes races are part of a 16-race, $1.26 million card at Eldorado Scioto Downs on Saturday that also includes two $250,000 Grand Circuit events in the Charlie Hill Memorial and the Jim Ewart Memorial. Also on the card are three $50,000 divisions each of the fifth leg for freshman male and filly pacers.
First-race post time is 5:45 p.m.