Grove City, OH – It’s been a sort of feast-or-famine season for Touchedbythesea. The 3-year-old pacer has three wins but has missed the board in his three other starts thus far.
“I think a lot of it is that he’s just learning how to race,” Knox Services’ Kris Brechler said of the inconsistency. “I’m very happy with how he’s done in the races. In his first couple starts, it was more about learning how to race, and I think he’s getting better and better the more he races.”
Knox Services, of Mount Vernon, OH, co-owns Touchedbythesea with Burke Racing Stable, Slaughter Racing Stable, and Weaver Bruscemi. The Downbytheseaside gelding out of Summer Touch — the 2020 Ohio 2-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year who set a world record and won the Ohio Triple Crown that season — didn’t race as a freshman last year, as his connections believed he needed more development. So the early-season inconsistency may be inherent in his relative lack of on-track experience.
“I think he just needed some maturity from last year to this year,” Brechler said. “He’s maybe not the best colt out there, but he’s a nice colt that gives you his best effort every time he’s out on the track. He’s doing everything we’ve asked of him and seems to be getting better and better each and every time he races.”
With Touchedbythesea untested entering his 3-year-old season, Brechler admitted to not knowing what to expect of him.
“I knew that he had some talent but didn’t know how much talent he had, so anything good was going to be a plus,” he said.
Touchedbythesea made his debut in an overnight race at The Meadows on April 22, finishing fourth. His first victory came one week later in another overnight race at the same track, perhaps giving his connections a glimpse of his potential.
“After his first couple starts, I thought he would be a great Buckeye (Stallion Series) horse,” Brechler said.
That has proven to be the case. In the first leg of the Buckeye Stallion Series on May 9 at Eldorado Scioto Downs, the Ron Burke trainee won in a lifetime mark of 1:52.3, tying for the fastest mile of the six divisions of the BSS that night as Chris Page took over driving duties from Ronnie Wrenn Jr.
“Chris did a great job getting him in position,” Brechler said. “I thought he had a chance to win, and he ended up winning. It was a good race for him.”
Touchedbythesea finished fourth his next time out in an overnight race at Scioto but rebounded for another BSS victory in 1:54.3 in the second leg on June 6 at Northfield Park Racino. He is the only sophomore male pacer with multiple BSS wins this year and is a morning-line favorite as he goes for a third victory in the series despite coming off a seventh-place finish on June 18.
Scioto Downs is hosting six $20,000 divisions of the third leg of the BSS for sophomore colt pacers on Saturday (June 27) and Touchedbythesea opened as the 2-1 favorite in the fifth division. He drew post four in the nine-horse field that includes four other horses — Gypsy’s Brother (Tyler Smith), Legends Rule (Brett Miller), Odds On Rpj (Luke Hanners), and The Ebony Dragon (Austin Hanners) — with BSS victories to their credit this year. Virgil Morgan Jr. trainee Odds On Rpj is the 5-2 second choice on the morning line and will leave from the rail. Brechler pointed to Odds On Rpj and The Ebony Dragon, trained by Tyler Bates, as perhaps Touchedbythesea’s top challengers on Saturday in what he sees as a good measuring-stick race for his horse.
“It’s going to be a really tough race for him, so we should find out more about him after this race,” Brechler said. “But I think he has a good chance to win. He’s raced some of these horses before and has been right there with them.”
First Division
First-leg winners Global (Cameron McCown) and Odds On Phil (L. Hanners) highlight the field. Trained by Brian Brown, Global has hit the board in seven of nine seasonal starts with five wins and is the 2-1 morning line favorite after drawing the rail. Morgan Jr. trainee Odds On Phil, the 3-1 second choice, will leave from post two.
Third Division
The remaining three sophomore colt pacers with BSS wins this year — Odds On Sugar (L. Hanners), Thunder Jam (Miller), and Ultimate Catch (Chris Lems) — highlight the nine-horse field. Odds On Sugar, trained by Morgan Jr., opened as the 2-1 favorite and will leave from post two. He has a record of 1-1-1 in four seasonal starts. Thunder Jam is a Tim Twaddle trainee with four wins, one second, and one third in eight starts this year, and Ultimate Catch has four wins and one third in eight seasonal starts for trainer Scott Cox. They drew posts three and nine, respectively. Sunnys In The Sea (Smith) opened as the 4-1 second choice and will leave from post four.
Notes
Starblazer (L. Hanners), a Morgan Jr. trainee, is the 2-1 morning line favorite in the second division. He will leave from the rail.
Tsunami Seas (Miller) opened as a heavy favorite in the fourth division at 6-5. Trained by Morgan Jr., he has three wins and two seconds in five seasonal starts and drew post four.
Stoke The Fire (Lems), the 2-1 morning line favorite in the sixth division, will leave from post three. Trained by Cox, he has four wins in eight starts this year.
The six BSS races are part of a 16-race card at Scioto on Saturday. First-race post time is 5:25 p.m.
For more information:
Wes Mayberry
wmayberry@ohha.com
614-221-3650
The Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association (OHHA) is a non-profit organization serving Standardbred horse owners, breeders, trainers, drivers, and fans who participate in the sport of harness racing in the Buckeye State.
OHHA was founded in 1953. The mission of the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association is to preserve, protect, promote, and serve the entire Standardbred industry in Ohio and beyond.