The 2021 Ohio Sires Stakes (OHSS) season got off to a sizzling start on a sunny and breezy Sunday afternoon (May 2) at Miami Valley Raceway.
In the first of two $50,000 divisions of three-year-old pacing fillies it was the favourite Lady Arthur who stole the show for trainer and co-owner Dr. Ian Moore. The homebred daughter by Arthur Blue Chip, out of the Mach Tree mare April Three, used front-stepping tactics to nail her second win of the season in 1:53.3 with Ronnie Wrenn, Jr. at the lines.
Owned in partnership by Moore and the RG McGroup and Serge Savard, Lady Arthur now has $110,000 in her career coffers. She finished two lengths in front of 11-1 rival She Knows It All, with Babs Jansen half a length back in 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.