Harness racing trainer Brian Brown will send out nine horses during Northfield Park's "Super Night," Saturday, Sept. 3. Eight of those are Standardbreds Brown conditioned to vie in a $250,000 Ohio Sires Stakes Championship.
Post time for the 15-race Super Night program is 6 pm, ET, with the first Ohio Sires Stakes Championship beginning with Race 4 and continuing through Race 11. Each OSS Championship features eight of the top point earners from the four-leg series returning to face off against one another.
Brown, a native of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, will celebrate his 52 birthday at the end of this month and taking home a blue ribbon in each of the Championships would certainly be a fitting birthday present for a trainer who works non-stop to keep his equine athletes in tip-top shape.
"The Ohio Sires Stakes Championships are the top of the line for Ohio," Brian stressed. "I'm lucky enough to have eight horses racing in these events. I feel blessed, but more importantly, this is a great night for the owners who have invested in the Ohio program. As a trainer, obviously you want them to all have winners, but it's also about them having a great night of fun and excitement. It's definitely a privilege to be involved at this level of competition."
Brian is no stranger to success, having conditioned 1,177 winners to $14,283,616 in lifetime earnings. One of the highlights of his career was when his Colors A Virgin captured the 2014 Jugette in 1:52.4 at his home track in Delaware, Ohio and then later triumphed in the Breeders Crown Mare Pace.
Brian grew up attending the races with his father Robert H. Brown and uncle William Brown as they raced around the Buckeye State's county fair and pari-mutuel ovals. He began driving in 1981 at age 16 and won 251 races, but hung up the lines in the late 1990s to concentrate his efforts on training. Since then, he's become a solid force throughout the Midwest and on the Grand Circuit.
Preparing for a Championship night takes planning, Brian admits.
"You leave nothing to chance," he noted. "Every horse trained; they all got scoped; they all got their blood taken; and the vet went over each one of them. Anything can happen in horse racing, but you have to cover all your bases when you're preparing this many horses to compete on one evening."
Brian recorded his first one-million-dollar season in 2013, when his charges earned $1,501,709, giving him an outstanding .385 UTRS. The following year (2014) his winners amassed $2,116,668 for a .345 UTRS, and last season (2015)–his best year ever–saw horses trained by Brian earn $3,430,241, for a .375 UTRS. This year thus far, he's conditioned 390 starters to 96 wins, 45 seconds and 52 thirds for $1,506,512 in seasonal monies with a solid .355 UTRS.
His eight Ohio Sires Stakes contenders include the undefeated Type A Grey, a 2-year-old Art Official lass who has swept her OSS divisions and taken a mark of 1:54.3f, earning $97,900 for the Emerald Highlands Farm of Mount Vernon, OH. She'll start from post two in Race 5.
Brian will also harness Bye Bye Felicia from post five in this same division. The black daughter by Woodstock has $68,639 in career earnings and has a trio of OSS triumphs to her credit in six career starts. She recorded a mark of 1:54.2f for owners Jennifer Brown (Brian's wife), Ostrander, OH; Dean Davis, Wooster, OH; Joyce McClelland, Zanesville, OH; and Steve Mullet, Millersburg, OH.
Brian has a trio of youngsters in the $250,000 Championship for 2year-old pacing colts (Race 7). Corner Con Artist, by Art Official, has racked up $37,656 in earnings for breeder/owner Stephen Sexton of Xenia, OH with a record of 1:55.3f in a July 4 OSS triumph.
Corner Con Artist starts from post five with stablemate Officially Creek right next door in post six. This $39,050-winning Art Official gelding is owned by Debbie Bird of Goes Landing, ON, and won Leg 4 of this series on Aug. 24 at Northfield in a career best 1:54.
Last, but definitely not least, is the speedy Barnabas, a gelded son of McArdle who captured three OSS legs, including a 1:53.1h score at Northfield in his last OSS effort on Aug. 24. He's earned $79,200 for Country Club Acres of Findlay, OH; Joe Sbrocco, Brecksville, OH; Richard Lombardo, Solon, OH; and William Robinson of Findlay, OH, and will start from the seven-slot in this same event.
In the $250,000 Championship (Race 9) for 3-year-old pacing fillies, Brian sends out She Gone from post eight.
"I'm at the mercy of the race with some of the posts we've drawn," he said. "I've got two horses with a two and a four-hole, and the rest all drew the five-hole or further out. It just comes down to how the race folds out for us."
She Gone is co-owned by Brian, Jennifer and Beau Brown, along with Cameron McCown of Ostrander, OH and Richard Lombardo of Solon, OH. This sophomore lass has seasonal earnings of $50,375 and career earnings of $69,285. She recorded a mark of 1:55.1 on May 6 of this year at Miami Valley Raceway.
"The 3-year-old colt pace is the widest open of any of the championships," Brian assessed. "In my opinion, there are five colts in there that, given the right trip, any of them are capable of winning."
Brian bridles up Whataboy from post five for Carl Howard of Powell, OH; Gerrie Tucker of Quebec, CA; and RBH Ventures, Inc., of New York, NY. The son of Big Bad John has $93,800 in his seasonal coffers for these connections and recorded a 1:51.3f score at Scioto on July 9. He won a pair of OSS legs this season and sports a career bankroll of $136,554.
Starting from post six in this same event is Friskie Cruiser, a son of Feelin Friskie owned by breeder Stephen Sexton of Xenia, OH. A winner of $191,796 lifetime, Friskie Cruiser has seasonal earnings of $51,175 with a mark of 1:54 taken in an OSS leg at Northfield on Aug.13.
by Kimberly Rinker, OSDF Administrator