By Wes Mayberry
The milestone 50th season of the Ohio Sires Stakes came to a close on Sunday (Oct. 4) as Northfield Park Racino hosted four $100,000 divisions of the OSS Veteran Championships for 4-year-olds and up.
Drivers Chris Page and Dan Noble split the four races, scoring two wins apiece.
With Page in the sulky, Fearless Ginger recorded the fastest mile of the four divisions, taking the Veteran Mare Pace by half a length in 1:51.3. Dragon By The Sea (Tyler Smith) and Beautiful Seaside (Trevor Smith) rounded out the top three. Fearless Ginger is trained by Ron Burke for owners Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi. It was her sixth win in 22 seasonal starts. The 5-year-old Fear The Dragon mare has hit the board in 59 of 84 lifetime starts with 25 wins and $601,375 in earnings.
The driver-trainer pairing of Page and Burke also won the Veteran Horse and Gelding Pace with Paris’s Dragon, who tripped the wire in 1:52.4. Clever Cody (Luke Ebersole) was placed second, and Charlie May (Noble) was placed third. Paris’s Dragon is a 5-year-old Fear The Dragon gelding owned by Burke Racing Stable, Dennis Owens, Weaver Bruscemi, and Lawrence Karr. His fifth victory in 20 seasonal starts increased his career win total to 22 in 64 starts while growing his earnings to $738,142.
Noble’s victories came with Deborah Swartz trainee Abbey D and Bob Stewart trainee Hung Over.
Abbey D won the Veteran Mare Trot by three and three-quarters lengths in 1:54.2. The 7-year-old Uncle Peter mare led gate to wire, recording fractions of :27.2, :57, and 1:25.1 through the first three calls. Jurassic Hattie (Brett Miller) finished second followed by Sugar Instead (Page) in third. It was the 10th win in 28 seasonal starts for Abbey D, who is owned by Bradley Delaney. She has a 36-23-19 record with $583,841 in earnings from 145 career starts.
Hung Over won the Veteran Horse and Gelding Trot by one and a half lengths in 1:54 as Hilltop Sonar (Page) and Caviar Gold (Aaron Merriman) rounded out the top three. The 5-year-old Creatine gelding is owned by Bluestone Farms and Lynda Stewart. It was his second win in 12 seasonal starts. He has a 16-6-15 career record in 53 starts and lifetime earnings of $696,130.