The fourth leg of the Ohio Sires Stakes (OSS) for harness racing 3-year-old trotting and pacing colts will be contested Saturday night at Scioto Downs. Post time is 6:30 pm, ET. Each of the four divisions will vie for a purse of $40,000.
The $225,000 Championships for all divisions of 2- and 3-year-olds of both gaits will be contested at Scioto on Saturday, Sept. 12.
Rivals Gray Camo and Indian Spirit will battle in the first $40,000 OSS pacing test, carded as Race One on the 13-race program.
Gray Camo, an altered son of Pine Valley-Cg's Gem-Shady Character leaves from post two with Chris Page in the sulky. A winner of $129,229 in his career, the roan pacer is conditioned by Ron Burke for Burke Racing Stable of Frederickstown, PA; Weaver Bruscemi, Cannonsburg, PA; Richard Suda, Darien, IL and Jason Melillo, Powell, OH.
Gray Camo was a $10,000 yearling purchase at the 2013 Blooded Horse Sale and is a full brother to Pink Camo p,2,1:52.3 ($210,766) and Dibs p,3,1:53.2f ($218,698). A winner of four races as a freshman, Gray Camo's lone victory this year came in the first leg of OSS action on May 2 at Miami Valley Raceway when he scored a career best clocking of 1:53.3. He was bred by Charles Gajda of Volant, PA.
Indian Spirit has five victories to his credit this season, with triumphs in a July 17 OSS in 1:56.1; on June 20 (1:53) and June 6 (1:54.3) in Ohio Breeders Stakes (OBS); and in both his elimination (1:55.2) and $30,000 final (1:54) of the Hackett on April 25 at Miami Valley Raceway. He'll be harnessed by trainer Dan Ater and driven by Kyle Ater, the conditioner's son.
Owned by Gregory Forcum of Chillicothe, OH and bred by Bruce Lane of Frankfort, OH, Indian Spirit is a son of Tylers Big Mark-Bettacular-Mantacular who has $101,219 in career earnings from eight lifetime wins, four seconds and a pair of thirds in 21 trips behind the starting gate.
In the second $40,000 OSS pacing division (Race Five) favorite Nobles Finesse hails from the rail with trainer Kurt Sugg at the lines. Owned by Dean Davis, Wooster, OH; Joyce McClelland, Zanesville, OH; and the Mullet Stables, Millersburg, OH, Nobles Finesse will be trying for his seventh victory of the season.
A winner of $154,321 lifetime, the bay son of Feelin Friskie-Lady Lonesome-Nobleland Sam won an OSS leg on July 17 at Northfield Park in 1:55.4 and is a five-time Ohio Fair Stake (OHFS) winner in 2014. Bred by the late Ohio driving champion Chip Noble, Nobles Finesse has half-siblings in Lonesome Attack (by On The Attack) p,5, 1:50f ($386,929) and Lonesome Cruiser (by Yankee Cruiser) p,5,1:54h ($85,715), among others.
Chief Talkalot hails from the powerful Brian Brown Stable and will have America's leading driver, Aaron Merriman, in the bike. This son of Feelin Friskie-Jardin Des Arts-Jeremy's Gambit has one lone win to his credit this season-but it came in an OSS on May 2 at Miami Valley Raceway when he was clocked in a lifetime best 1:55.2.
The bay gelding is co-owned by breeder Steve Stewart, Paris, KY, along with Michael Robinson, Lewis Center, OH; Robert Mondillo, Delaware, OH and Steve Cheatham, Petersburg, TN. Chief Talkalot has amassed $83,642 in career earnings from a trio of wins, two seconds and one third in 11 career trips postward.
A pair of OSS trotting divisions feature a field of five (Race Two) and six (Race Three) diagonally-gaited sophomores. In the first $40,000 test I Know My Chip, a son of Deep Chip-Madeline's Crown-Pegasus Spur battles Neely's Messenger, a Neely Dun-Fun Message-Carry The Message gelding.
I Know My Chip is conditioned by Ron Burke, who co-owns the gelding along with Weaver Bruscemi, Cannonsburg, PA and Paul Collura, Mountain Top, PA. Bred by Ohioan Kimberly Dailey, this bay 3-year-old has missed only one check in all nine of his starts this season-and has finished no worse than second in the other eight, with victories in Ohio State Fair (OSF) and OSS events, with seasonal earnings of $112,875. Lifetime he's amassed $218,278 for these connections. He starts from post four with Chris Page driving.
Neely's Messenger was a multiple OSS victor as a freshman, with earnings of $215,945 for owners Dale and Julie Ann Sweet of Toledo and Akron, OH. Conditioned by Marty Wollam, the altered son of Neely Dunn-Fun Message-Carry The Message won seven of eight starts in 2014 and this year has four wins, one second and one third in just seven trips postward. Bred by Ohio's Albert Yoder, Neely's Messenger has won a pair of OSS tests this year, along with OBS events and an OHFS in his last start on Aug. 23.
No Whip Chip in the second OSS trotting division (Race Three) is a true family horse. The son of Victory Sam-Merediths Hope-Master Lavec is owned by Deborah Noble of Xenia, OH; was bred by the late Sam "Chip" Noble, and is trained and driven by the couple's son Danny Noble. He's been assigned post five in the field of six and will be trying for victory number three of the season. Unraced as a 2-year-old, No Whip Chip captured his OSS division on July 17 at Northfield Park, stopping the timer in a hasty 1:58.2, with an impressive :27.3 final brush.
Cooter Dunn, a son of Neely Dunn-Sweet Edith-Stoneking-who starts outside of No Whip Chip-will be trying for his fifth win this year in 13 tires. Bred, owned and trained by Renee Bauslaugh and driven by Louis Bauslaugh, Cooter Dunn has $99,228 in career earnings from 10 lifetime victories in 26 starts.
Kimberly Rinker