Grove City, OH – MGM Northfield Park is hosting the 2025 Buckeye Stallion Series finals on Saturday (Oct. 4) with eight $75,000 divisions. Twin B High Tide and Hunka Hunka enter as standouts among the entries in the four divisions of pacers.
The 2024 BSS male pace champion as a 2-year-old, Twin B High Tide (Austin Hanners) posted victories in the second and third legs of the BSS this season en route to finishing sixth in the standings with 102 points. Trained by Alicia Hanners, the Downbytheseaside colt has hit the board in 10 of 15 lifetime starts with seven wins and $171,710 in earnings. He will leave from post six.
Some of his top competitors for the 2025 BSS title include Fly High Cruiser, Woodrow Blue Chip, and Johnny Up, who finished as the top three in the standings. Fly High Cruiser (Dan Noble) enters as a three-leg winner with 171 points. The Yankee Cruiser gelding and Anette Lorentzon trainee has hit the board in seven of 11 seasonal starts, with four wins, and will leave from the far outside. Woodrow Blue Chip (Justin Irvine) will leave from post five. Trained by Ryan Miller, the Lather Up gelding won a division in the first leg of the BSS and posted runner-up finishes in each of the next four legs. He has five wins, five seconds, and four thirds in 17 seasonal starts. Leaving from post two will be Johnny Up (Kurt Sugg), who has five wins in 11 starts this season. Two of those victories came in the BSS. The Lather Up gelding is trained by Edward Miller. Seaside Star (Luke Hanners) is another two-leg winner in the eight-horse field.
Hunka Hunka (Sugg) highlights the freshman colt pace field after posting wins in four of the five legs of the BSS this season, including a lifetime-best 1:52.3 in the fourth leg. The leader in the standings with 205 points, the Catch The Fire colt has hit the board in eight of nine seasonal starts with six wins and two seconds. The Daren Harvey trainee will leave from post six. Three-leg winners Stoke The Fire (Chris Lems) and The Ebony Dragon (L. Hanners) round out the top three in the standings, with 185 and 175 points, respectively. Trained by Scott Cox, Stoke The Fire will leave from the rail. The Catch The Fire gelding has four wins and two seconds in seven starts this season. The Ebony Dragon is a Fear The Dragon colt trained by Tyler Bates. He has 11 wins in 15 seasonal starts and will leave from post seven. The field also includes two-leg winners Heerz Corinthian (Cameron McCown), Odds On Phil (Chris Page), Odds On Rpj (Aaron Merriman), and Wagon Day (Kayne Kauffman).
The headliner in the freshman filly pace division is Eyes Up (Sugg), who will leave from post six as the leader in the standings with 163 points. Rachel Oenema trains the Lather Up filly. She has hit the board in seven of nine starts with three wins this season. Two of those victories came in the BSS, including a lifetime-best 1:54.4 in the second leg. Odds On Dividend (A. Hanners) and Jamie Amanda (L. Hanners) were second and third in the standings with 138 and 130 points, respectively. Downbytheseaside filly Odds On Dividend’s recorded one win and three runner-up finishes over the course of the five legs of the BSS this year. The Virgil Morgan Jr. trainee has hit the board in six of eight starts in 2025 and will leave from post seven. Morgan Jr. stablemate and fellow Downbytheseaside filly Jamie Amanda posted two BSS victories and has three wins and one second in six seasonal starts. She will leave from post four. Two-leg winners Madetorockette (Lems), Queen Valerie (Page), and Seaside Angel (Noble) are also in the field.
In the sophomore filly pace division, Judge Me Again (Trevor Smith), who sits atop the standings with 155 points, will leave from the rail. The Western Vintage filly won twice in the BSS this season, including a lifetime-best 1:51.3 in the second leg. Trained by Chris Beaver, she has four wins, seven seconds, and two thirds in 18 seasonal starts. Maddie’s Delite (Page) and Survivin Fire (Noble) are poised as top challengers after finishing with 130 and 129 points, respectively. Maddie’s Delite has hit the board in 17 of 19 starts this season with 11 wins and six seconds. Trained by Steve Carter, the Lather Up filly has one win and three runner-up finishes in the BSS this year and has 24 victories in 37 career starts. She will leave from the far outside. Catch The Fire filly Survivin Fire will leave from post three. The Michael Hitchcock trainee has hit the board in 17 of 20 starts in 2025 with 10 victories, two of which came in the BSS. Fellow two-time BSS winners Anna Loves Bananas (Merriman) and Queen Of Fear (Sugg) are also in the field.
The eight divisions of the Buckeye Stallion Series finals are part of a 15-race card at MGM Northfield Park. First-race post time on Saturday is 6 p.m. The Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association will provide livestreaming coverage of the BSS finals as part of its “Saturday Night at the Races” program on the OHHA YouTube channel and Facebook page as well as HarnessRacingOhio.com beginning at 6:15 p.m.