Scioto: Noble tallies in two of four Ohio Sires Stakes Veteran Championships

Four $85,000 Ohio Sires Stakes Veterans Championships were held at Eldorado Scioto Downs on Friday (August 30).

The trot for stallions and geldings, a pre-card non-wagering event with five entries, was won by The Mighty Hill in gate-to-wire fashion in 1:52 4/5. Driven by co-owner Trevor Smith, The Mighty Hill led through fractions of 29, 56 and 1:24 2/5 and held off Caviar Gold (Aaron Merriman) and Gabbys Bit Coin (Austin Hanners).

The Mighty Hill is a 5-year-old gelding by What The Hill and is out of the Tagliabue mare Maxine The Mighty. Friday's win was his 15th lifetime in 51 starts. Owned by Bet The House and Trevor Smith, the Jeff Smith trainee now has $496,445 in lifetime earnings.

The mare pace went to My Red Sea (Eric Goodell), who also led gate-to-wire to win in 1:50. The 4-year-old mare set fractions of 26 2/5, 55 and 1:22 3/5 en route to a new lifetime mark, defeating High Flyin' Filly (Chris Page) and Penpaperpaige (Tyler Smith).

Jason Irwin trains the Downbytheseaside mare out of the Jereme's Jet mare My Hare Lady for Jennifer Bongiorno Stable and Robert Weinstein. My Red Sea now has 14 wins in 51 lifetime starts and $290,411 in earnings.

Refined took the mare trot in 1:51 4/5 with Dan Noble up. After getting the pocket trip behind Martysmagicmoment (Brett Miller) through opening fractions of 27 1/5 and 55 3/5, Noble pulled Refined midway down the backside and made the lead by the 1:23 3/5 three-quarters. Forceful Power (Hugh Beatty) was at her wheel coming down the stretch, but Refined was a length and a half better at the finish. Rose Run Yolanda (Hanners) got up for third.

Refined is by Uncle Peter and out of the Malabar Man mare Reinvent. Owned by Joyce McClelland and Larry Wills, the 8-year-old mare is trained by Virgil Morgan Jr. Refined now has six wins on the year in 16 starts and $1.16 million earned lifetime.

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The stallion and gelding pace had a lot of movement going towards the 26 3/5 opening quarter with Donttouchmytruck (Chris Presley) getting off the car first, Act Fast (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) taking the lead midway around the first turn and Seafire (Page) pulling and marching to the front out of fourth as the field straightened out on the stretch for the first time. By the 54 2/5 half the field had settled single-file, but Burnout (Hanners) pulled first-up, towing Charlie May (Noble) right behind him. After flipping three-wide at the 1:22 3/5 three-quarters, Charlie May had the momentum and sprinted down the stretch to win by a half-length over Seafire. Donttouchmytruck powered up for third.

Charlie May, a Don Tiger homebred trained by Steve Carter, is by McArdle and out of the Western Hanover mare Stipple Hanover. Friday's victory was the first win of the year for the 6-year-old gelding who had made $102,286 in 10 seasonal starts in 2024. Lifetime, Charlie May has now earned $2,196,921 in 74 lifetime starts.

There will be a special Labor Day card on Monday, September 2, with the next live racing day not until Thursday, September 5. The Saturday (September 7) card features the $250,000 Jim Ewart Memorial Pace and the Charlie Hill Memorial Trot.

Post time for all remaining cards, except for Friday, September 13, is 5:45 p.m. First post for the Friday the 13th card will be 6:45 p.m. to help accommodate horsemen attending the Ohio Selected Yearling Sale.

--edited press release (Scioto)--