Grove City, OH – Three horses – Big Ranger, Demonic Niko, and Mocha Hill – are looking to complete Ohio Triple Crown-winning seasons on Saturday (Sept. 27) as Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway hosts the 2025 Ohio Sires Stakes Scarlet Championships for trotters.
Saturday’s 14-race card features purses totaling $3.65 million and includes eight divisions of the OSS Scarlet Championships and four Dayton Oaks Derby Grand Circuit races with two consolations. The four divisions of the Scarlet Championships for trotters have purses of $300,000 each. First-race post time is 6:30 p.m.
Freshman trotter Big Ranger is looking to continue an unbeaten season by claiming the Ohio Triple Crown. The In Range colt out of Big Blue Bird is 6-for-6 thus far with $220,610 in earnings. Those six victories include one in each of the first two legs of the Triple Crown — the Ohio State Fair Stakes at Eldorado Scioto Downs and the Ohio Breeders Championship at Delaware — as well as the first, fourth, and fifth legs of the OSS. His lifetime best of 1:54 came in the Next Generation, which was his first start in a purse race. Trainer Ronnie Gillespie has been in the sulky with Big Ranger all season, including getting his 1,000th career driving victory at the State Fair Stakes on July 31. Gillespie will be back in the bike on Saturday leaving from post four in hopes of yet another milestone moment.
“If he gets a good draw, I feel really good about him,” Gillespie said in August of Big Ranger’s Triple Crown chances. “That’s what I’m shooting for is the Triple Crown.”
After that interview, Gillespie and Big Ranger went on to claim a victory in the OBC on Sept. 16, setting up the possibility of claiming the Triple Crown. Other top contenders for the OSS Championship for freshman male trotters include Ready Russell, Rose Run Banker, and Special Moni.
Ready Russell (David Miller) was a perfect 5-for-5 in the OSS this season and has six victories in eight starts with $144,811 in earnings. His lifetime best of 1:54 came in the fifth leg of the OSS at Scioto, where he broke his own track record for freshman trotting geldings. Trained by Deborah Swartz, the son of Ready For Moni topped the OSS standings with 255 points — well ahead of second-place Big Ranger with 153 — and will leave from post six.
Rose Run Banker (Chris Page) and Special Moni (Aaron Merriman) tied for third in the standings with 125 points each. The Ron Burke-trained Rose Run Banker will leave from the rail. He has hit the board in six of eight seasonal starts with two wins. Special Moni, a Chris Beaver trainee, is a two-time OSS winner this season and will leave from the far outside.
The freshman filly trot division has a Triple Crown candidate in Demonic Niko (Yannick Gingras). The Erv Miller trainee was 4-for-5 in the OSS this season with her lone blemish being a runner-up showing to Setyoursightshigh in the fourth leg. The In Range filly out of Cant Stop Marie posted wins in the OSFS in 1:57.1 and the OBC in 1:56.2. Her lifetime best of 1:55 came in the fifth leg of the OSS at Scioto on Sept. 1. She has hit the board in all nine seasonal starts, with seven wins and two seconds and has $241,260 in earnings. She compiled 230 points to lead the OSS standings and will leave from post five.
Speedbewithyou (Austin Hanners), who finished second in the standings with 185 points, posted wins in the first, fourth, and fifth legs of the OSS. The Mission Accepted filly is trained by Todd Luther and has hit the board in seven of eight starts this season, with four wins and $145,142 in earnings. She will leave from post two. Leaving next to Demonic Niko will be Miller stablemate Lucky Lady Volo (Atlee Bender) in post four. The In Range filly has two wins this season, both of which came in the OSS, and finished third in the standings with 150 points. Setyoursightshigh (Dexter Dunn), a two-time winner in the OSS, has hit the board in all eight seasonal starts, with six victories and has $365,000 in earnings.
Sophomore filly Mocha Hill (Page) rounds out the trotting Triple Crown contenders. Trained by Burke, the What The Hill filly out of Socha Hanover finished tied for ninth in the OSS standings but posted a victory in each of the first two legs of the Triple Crown. She won a division of the OSFS in a lifetime-best 1:54.3 and a division of the OBC in 1:55. She has eight career wins and $363,277 in earnings and will leave from post three.
Aunt Laura (Dunn), who was the OSS champion as a 2-year-old, is looking to claim back-to-back titles after topping this year’s standings with 155 points. The Virgil Morgan Jr. trainee posted wins in each of the first two legs of the OSS this season as part of four overall victories in 12 starts. The Uncle Peter filly has seven lifetime wins and $371,108 in earnings and will leave from post seven.
Dream Something (Tyler Smith) and Jailhouse Pearl (Hanners) — two-time OSS winners this season — finished second and third in the standings with 154 and 134 points, respectively. Dream Something is an Uncle Peter filly trained by Miles Wollam. She has hit the board in eight of nine seasonal starts, with three wins, and will leave from post four. Jailhouse Pearl is a Long Tom filly trained by Eric Nesselroad. She has hit the board in 11 of 13 starts this season, with four wins, and will leave from post two.
Sophomore trotter Lt Loverboy (Brett Miller) is looking for a second straight OSS championship after winning the title as a 2-year-old in 2024. The Long Tom gelding, trained by Daren Harvey, scored victories in three of the five legs of the OSS this season, including a lifetime-best 1:52.1 in the third leg, and sits stop the standings with 175 points. He has hit the board in 17 of 20 career starts with $469,734 in earnings and will leave from post eight.
Another three-time OSS winner this season, Battle Hill (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.), was second in the standings with 168 points. Trained by Matthew Burkholder, the Marseille gelding has six wins in 10 seasonal starts and will leave from post five. He has hit the board in 16 of 19 lifetime starts, with 10 wins and $373,705 in earnings. Jet Wings (Dunn), who was third in the standings with 154 points, posted two OSS wins this season and has six victories and six seconds in 16 starts on the year. Trained by Morgan Jr., the What The Hill gelding has hit the board in 25 of 31 career starts, with 10 wins and $232,644 in earnings, and will leave from post three.
The Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association will provide live-streaming coverage of the OSS Scarlet Championships as part of its “Saturday Night at the Races” program on the OHHA YouTube channel and Facebook page as well as HarnessRacingOhio.com.