Grove City, OH — Travel Nurse repeated as champion with Luke Hanners scoring his 1,000th career driving victory to highlight the four $75,000 divisions of the 2025 Buckeye Stallion Series for trotters at MGM Northfield Park on Saturday (Oct. 4).
The BSS freshman filly trot champion a year ago, Travel Nurse led at the first three calls in :28.3, :58.1, and 1:27.1 as she looked to repeat as a sophomore. But securing the win would be far from easy. She led by two and a half lengths entering the final stretch before holding off a strong closing charge from Pretty Lil Penny (Chris Page) to win by half a length as both horses tripped the wire in 1:56.3. Volstarita (Justin Irvine) was third. Travel Nurse is an Enterprise filly trained by Virgil Morgan Jr. for owner Joyce A McClelland Stable. She entered Saturday with two wins on the season, including one in the BSS, and was sixth in the BSS standings. She has hit the board in 13 of 26 lifetime starts with six victories and $203,028 in earnings. Hanners, who will turn 25 years old on Oct. 11, scored his 1,000th career victory in his 8,880th start. A native of Columbus, Ohio, who currently resides in Chillicothe, Hanners began his driving career in 2017.
The 2025 freshman filly trot championship went to Readi Two in 1:59.3 with trainer Sandy Beatty in the sulky. Anette Lorentzon stablemates Mockingbird As (Page) and Wild As Her As (Dan Noble) finished second and third, respectively. Judy’s Moni (Anthony MacDonald) took the lead off the gate and was in front past the first three calls in fractions of :29.4, 1:00.3, and 1:30. After taking the pocket trip, Readi Two moved to the passing lane to make it three wide as Wild As Her As challenged on the outside of Judy’s Moni down the stretch. Readi Two held off a late rally from Mockingbird As from fourth place to win by half a length. The Ready For Moni filly has hit the board in all eight seasonal starts with six wins and two seconds. She scored victories in two of the five legs of the BSS and finished second in the standings. Owned by Robert Sharrits, she has $74,947 in earnings.
Long Tom geldings Smoke One For Me and Tom Largo won the championships in the colt trot divisions.
Smoke One For Me (Noble) used a pocket trip and made a move in the passing lane to win the sophomore colt trot title in 1:56.4. Nelli Up (Kayne Kauffman), a 21-1 longshot, led past the first three calls in fractions of :28.1, :58.1, and 1:27.2. Smoke One For Me entered the passing lane down the stretch and used a late surge to win by one and a half lengths with Nelli Up in second followed by Letsgotoparis (Kurt Sugg) in third. Smoke One For Me, who posted wins in two of the five legs of the BSS this season and finished as the leader in the standings, has eight victories in 21 starts in 2025. The Christi Noble trainee has hit the board in 20 of 27 lifetime starts with 10 wins and $116,405 in earnings. He is owned by Norman Rae Racing.
Freshman colt trot champion Tom Largo (Chris Lems) took the lead off the gate and was in front past the first three calls in :29.3, :59, and 1:28. He opened up a seven-length lead entering the final stretch and won by more than eight lengths over second-place Ready Made (Beatty) in 1:57.1. Eckert Hill Brady (Page), who made a break at the start, was third. Tom Largo is trained by Scott Cox for owners Jughead Stables, G Peters, and Robert Kubiak. He posted a win in two of the five legs of the BSS this year and was third in the standings. He has hit the board in six of nine seasonal starts with five wins and $125,400 in earnings.
The 2025 Buckeye Stallion Series concludes with eight $25,000 divisions of Consolations on Sunday (Oct. 5) at MGM Northfield Park. First-race post time is 6 p.m.