Two $50,000 divisions of Ohio Sires Stakes for three-year-old pacing fillies were featured at Scioto Downs on a humid Friday night.
Dragons Lucky Lady proved that she was just that as she cruised to a 1:52.2 clocking in the first split for driver Tyler Smith and trainer Eddie Foulk.
The daughter of Dragon Again notched her seasonal fourth victory from nine starts, upping her 2021 earnings to $58,335 for owners L&L Stables of Springfield, Ohio and William A Hartt, of Carmel, Maine. Leaving the gate as the 4-5 favourite, Dragons Lucky Lady prevailed easily over Babs Jansen (Kayne Kauffman), with She Knows It All (Ronnie Wrenn, Jr.) garnering third-place honours.
A total of four $50,000 Ohio Sires Stakes (OHSS) divisions for three-year-old pacing fillies and three-year-old trotting colts are set for Saturday (June 5) at Northfield Park in round-two action of the four-leg series for the Buckeye State’s finest-bred youngsters.
Winning Ticket will be the prohibitive favourite in the second OHSS division (Race 4) for trotting colts. This son of Triumphant Caviar took his OHSS leg-one division on May 3 at Miami Valley in 1:55.3 with Aaron Merriman driving for trainer Chris Beaver. He now has five wins in as many tries this year, with seasonal earnings of $77,500 and career earnings of $172,547.
Bred by James Bender, Winning Ticket is owned by Beaver, Steve Zeehandelar, Tim Homan and Jim Burnett. Winning Ticket will start from post 6 with Merriman in the sulky, and this bay gelding typically uses speed tactics to score his wins. He is the second foal out of his dam, the hardy Credit Winner race mare Lotto Winner (7, 1:56.1H [$166,461]).