Four $50,000 Ohio Sires Stakes divisions for three-year-old pacing and trotting colts went postward on a rainy afternoon at Miami Valley on May 3. Despite the gloomy weather, all the tail-sitting events offered excitement for harness racing fans.
Winning Ticket began the afternoon by taking the first of two OSS trotting events with Aaron Merriman driving for trainer Chris Beaver. The son of Triumphant Caviar, out of the Credit Winner mare Lotto Winner now has four straight triumphs to his credit in 2021, with seasonal earnings of $77,500 and career earnings of $162,547.
Bred by James Bender, Winning Ticket is owned by Beaver, Steve Zeehandelar, Tim Homan and Jim Burnett. The bay gelding used front-end tactics to score the win, snapping off fractions of :29, :58.4, 1:26.3 with a final panel in :29 to fly under the wire in 1:55.3. Peters Royalty was second for Josh Sutton, nearly three lengths behind the winner, while Tango With Me (Ronnie Wrenn, Jr.) was a distant third.