The reigning Ohio Horse of the Year, Charlie May did not disappoint the Delaware faithful in winning the Ohio Breeder’s Championship for aged pacers in a stakes record 1:49.4 on the opening day of the Delaware County Fair.
Driver Brett Miller used his rail position, grabbing the early lead and was able to control the field of nine and the fractions of :26.1; :55 and 1:23.
The McArdle gelding used a :26.4 final panel to score a 3 ½ length win over Odds On Shaggy (Mitchell Cushing) and Cyclone Union Jack (Aaron Merriman).
Charlie May won for the 24th time for owner Don Tiger and trainer Steve Carter.
Next up on Charlie May’s dance card will be the Dayton Pacing Derby on October 1.
OBC Two-Year-Old Filly Pace
Fear Of Sports (Tyler Smith) led gate-to-wire and held off a furious rally by Mcseaside (Chris Page) to take the second division of the $127,114 (div.) Ohio Breeder’s Championship for freshman pacing fillies in a stakes record 1:52.3.
The homebred daughter of Fear The Dragon won for the sixth time in 8 seasonal starts.
Fear Of Sports is owned by the Emerald Highlands Farm and trained by Kelly O’Donnell.
Kassagi (Kurt Sugg) got up in the final strides and scored a minor upset in the first $63,557 division in a wild finish.
The pacesetting More The Merrier (Aaron Merriman) finished second, but was placed fouth for interference. Elvette Hanover (Chris Page) and Dragon Terror (Kayne Kauffman) were elevated to second and third, respectively.
Dan O’Mara trains and Marjorie Polhamus owns the winner, who scored her second career win and established a new lifetime mark of 1:55.
OBC Three-Year-Old Colt Trot
Guido Di (Brady Brown) went gate-to-wire to take the fastest of four divisions of the Buckeye Stallion Series for three-year-old colt trotters.
The Wishing Stone gelding is trained by Steve Schoeffel for Virginia and Kathy Schoeffel, Lewis Falton and Sara Zidek.
The first division went to Phantom Tom (Chris Lems) in 1:57.4. Scott Cox trains the Long Tom gelding for the Jughead Stables, G. Peters and David Lindsey.
Country Hill (Chris Page) scored at odds of 11-1 to take the third division in 1:57. The What The Hill gelding is owned and trained by Melvin Schmucker.
The final $17,500 division went to Peterbilt (Chris Page) in 1:58.2 for his owner John Holman and trainer Fred Morgan, Jr. The win was Page’s third and final victory on the 20-race card.
OBC Three-Year-Old Filly Trot
Alana Hill (Brett Miller) held on by the slimmest margin to defeat I’ll Ante Up (Chris Page) to take the second of three divisions of the Buckeye Stallion Series for three-year-old filly trotters in 1:55.4
The What The Hill filly is trained by Virgil Morgan, Jr. for GC Gold Racing, Walnut View Farm and John Schlabach. Her career earnings are approaching the $150,000 mark.
The remaining divisions went to What A Victory (Aaron Merriman) in 1:57.2 and Gracious Triumph (Don Irvine, Jr.) in 1:57.3.
Amateur Events
Christina Johnson guided Crazy Bad K to a come from behind victory in the Tim Fouts Memorial Driving Championship in 1:56.
The event brings together representatives from the various amateur driving clubs across the country. Johnson was representing the Great Lakes Amateur Driving Association.
Two divisions of the Great Lakes Amateur Driving Association trot went to Lauren Harmon with Walkonthemoon in 1:59 and Jazmin Arnold with Herecomescharlie B in a stakes record equaling 1:57.
Racing resumes on Monday afternoon with an 19-race card starting at 1:00 PM.
Photo Credit: Conrad Photo