Four $50,000 Ohio Sires Stakes divisions for three-year-old pacing and trotting colts went postward on a rainy afternoon at Miami Valley on May 3. Despite the gloomy weather, all the tail-sitting events offered excitement for harness racing fans.
Winning Ticket began the afternoon by taking the first of two OSS trotting events with Aaron Merriman driving for trainer Chris Beaver. The son of Triumphant Caviar, out of the Credit Winner mare Lotto Winner now has four straight triumphs to his credit in 2021, with seasonal earnings of $77,500 and career earnings of $162,547.
Bred by James Bender, Winning Ticket is owned by Beaver, Steve Zeehandelar, Tim Homan and Jim Burnett. The bay gelding used front-end tactics to score the win, snapping off fractions of :29, :58.4, 1:26.3 with a final panel in :29 to fly under the wire in 1:55.3. Peters Royalty was second for Josh Sutton, nearly three lengths behind the winner, while Tango With Me (Ronnie Wrenn, Jr.) was a distant third.
The 2021 Ohio Sires Stakes season kicks off on Sunday (May 2) at Miami Valley Raceway, with three divisions for sophomore fillies. Additionally, four divisions of sophomore colts will race at the same venue on Monday (May 3). Post time both days is 2:05 p.m. ET.
A total of 27 fillies will race in OHSS events on Sunday, with one $60,000 division of nine trotters and a pair of $50,000 divisions of pacing fillies with nine contestants each. Likewise, on Monday afternoon, two $50,000 divisions of trotting colts and two $50,000 divisions of pacing colts will line up behind the starting gate.
This season the Ohio Sires Stakes nominations are significantly, with 1,071 foals nominated as opposed to 930 in 2020. Of those, 314 are three-year-olds, up from 300 in 2020, while 757 are two-year-olds, up from 630 nominees during the same time period.
Trainer Ron Burke and driver Chris Page have captured the 2020 Kaltenbach titles for the second consecutive season.
The Jerry Kaltenbach Memorial Trophies were established in 1988 and are awarded annually to the driver and trainer who have earned the most dollars competing in Ohio Sires Stakes events in a single season.
The Chris Page-driven and Ron Burke-trained Summer Touch
Trainer Ron Burke captured his third Kaltenbach training title in 2020, sending 95 youngsters postward in the 2020 Ohio Sires Stakes (OHSS) legs, Championships, and consolations. His total money earnings from these OHSS events were $1,392,500, surpassing his 2019 totals of $1,121,50 in OHSS earnings.
Burke had captured the 2014 Kaltenbach crown with $428,750 in OHSS earnings and was runner-up in 2018, before winning the 2019 title. This year his impressive assortment of two- and three-year-old pacers and trotters scored 20 wins, 19 seconds and six third place finishes in OHSS competition.