Scioto: Next Generation places Ohio’s 2YOs into the spotlight

Those looking to get a view of the future of Standardbred racing in Ohio need only stop in at Scioto Downs on Saturday (July 6) as the track hosts a quartet of $150,000 Next Generation races for 2-year-olds.

The Next Generation races are the featured attraction on a power-packed card that also includes two $100,000 Grand Circuit races for fillies – Moni Maker for trotters and Nadia Lobell for pacers – and Ohio Sire Stakes events for male pacers and trotters.

Thirty-six rookie performers – many making their first pari-mutuel starts – will go behind the gate from races seven to 10 in the Next Generation series and it is no surprise that Virgil Morgan Jr., who is seeking his 30th straight training title at the Scioto Downs meet, has a trio of hopefuls signed up for the series.

In the 2-year-old filly pace, Morgan sends out an Odds On Racing (Dana Parham) homebred named Odds On Chesapeake from post seven with Luke Hanners listed to drive. The Downbytheseaside-sired youngster comes off a pair of nondescript qualifying lines, something Morgan admits is by design.

“She trained down really good and has a really good attitude,” said Morgan. “I don’t put a lot of heat on mine in the qualifiers and I like them to stay on a helmet, keep the bit in their mouths and keep the earplugs in if they wear them. All of those things were done with her and she had pace late in both of her qualifiers. Dana has quite a few pacing fillies and we felt of all the ones we had that she was the most advanced at this time.”

While it is difficult to determine where the public will sway in a 2-year-old race, Prolific Fire could get the bulk of the attention at the windows. Raised by Brian Brown, the Catch The Fire filly was recently purchased by Greg Luther Racing and subsequently qualified at Hoosier with a 1:55 2/5 victory. She’ll start from post five with Brett Miller listed to drive.

What Morgan’s filly pacer lacks in flashy qualifying lines, his trotting filly entrant Travel Nurse certainly makes up for it. The daughter of Enterprise out of Poster Pin Up, who has produced three six-figure winners, Travel Nurse rolled to a 2:03 2/5 win on the engine in her first morning work at Scioto and followed it up with a pocket-pulling 2:01 1/5 win in her most recent try.

“She is a homebred for Joyce and Dick Mc Clelland out of a really good mare,” said Morgan, who will watch Travel Nurse leave from post five with Brett Miller in the bike. “The filly has been good from day one and has done nothing wrong. She was well in-hand in both qualifiers.”

Two of the nine in the field for the filly trot already have pari-mutuel experience. Aunt Lilly, being sent out by The Stable, was a 6-5 winner at The Meadows recently in 1:58 4/5 and will leave from post six with founder Anthony MacDonald in the bike. Another Uncle Peter-sired lass, Up starts from the outside post nine with Brady Brown back in the bike after a 1:58 2/5 win, also at The Meadows.

♦ Watch a live broadcast of the Next Generation races via OHHA's Facebook page

Morgan’s final Next Generation entrant comes in the 2-year-old colt pace with De Dragon. Also owned by Odds On Racing, the gelded son of Fear The Dragon only just joined the Morgan Jr. barn and blew out his first mile for the trainer with a 1:54 4/5 win by 10 lengths at Scioto.

“He’s a recent acquisition that we purchased after his last qualifier. Needless to say, he was pretty good in his first start,” said Morgan.

After two qualifying races without Lasix for trainer Jeff Nisonger, Morgan Jr. added the medication prior to his first start and will race all of his horses in the series with it.

“I have my own theories on Lasix,” said the trainer. “I think all horses have pulmonary hemorrhaging at one time or another and I personally think Lasix is a great thing. It is therapeutic and needed in our business.”

Starting from post two with Hanners in the bike, De Dragon is sure to get plenty of wagering attention, but he’s not the only one in the field with good-looking lines. A number of the 2-year-olds in this field have qualified in the 1:55 range and the Ron Burke-trained Swingtown (post eight, Chris Page) owns the fastest mile of the bunch after a 1:54 2/5 winning qualifier on June 18 at The Meadows.

Burke may also have one of the favorites in the 2-year-old colt trot as he sends out Memory Vault from post six off a 1:59 4/5 score. Page will drive the son of Uncle Peter, who may have his hands full with the undefeated Pink Panther (post two) for the team of Betty and Nick Clegg.

With 21 of the 36 Next Generation starters making their career debuts on Saturday, it brings to the surface whether it makes sense for a stakes race to lead-off the season for these yet unproven youngsters.

“It is kind of a double-edged sword. It is great thing but it is a lot of pressure for the first lifetime start, and I try to shy away from that to do what is best for the horse,” said Morgan, Jr. “You’ll see some horses possibly ruined for the year in this race by people overdriving them and getting too aggressive in their first lifetime start, and that’s unfortunate. But it goes for so much money and if things are done right, it is a good thing.

“The race comes with a lot of hype and you have to pony up money to get into it. With today’s 2-year-olds, there is a lot of money involved with purchasing them and stud fees. When there is something like this series, owners want to take advantage of it, as I do, but at the same time, to have a first lifetime start in a stakes race on the first week in July, only the strong survive.”

Given the above statements it is no surprise that Morgan Jr. would like to see his horses race more conservatively and there is a method to his mentality. Over the last three years only three of the 10 winners in Next Generation races have been successful on the lead.

“Nobody likes to win more than me but I would venture to say that the statistics aren’t really good if you land on the front in these races. In most cases it will be beneficial to those who have late pace. So I would like all of them to stay on a helmet and get good trips, but once the gate folds it is up to our drivers,” said Morgan Jr.

The Scioto Saturday card gets underway at 5:50 PM (EDT) and offers 15 live races. The Sire Stakes go in races one, five and 12 while the two Grand Circuit stakes are races 11 and 13.