From a relatively small number of foals produced each year, Ohio-breds have produced some strong performances against open company. Less than a week before a statebred runner gets a chance on one of the biggest stages of all at the Breeders’ Cup, other leaders of the Buckeye State’s program will be showcased at home in the fall Best of Ohio card Saturday at Mahoning Valley. Five $100,000 stakes on this, the last of three state showcase cards of the season, will feature some of the best current runners born in Ohio. One standout absent is Jonathan’s Way who, after winning the Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill Downs, runs in the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile as just the 10th Ohio-bred in a Breeders’ Cup race, seeking to be the first of those to win. But plenty of statebreds who have competed successfully against open company are in Austintown, including Who Dey, who has tangled with classic winners. He runs in the Best of Ohio Endurance, the nightcap on a card that includes reigning Ohio horse of the year and defending race winner Fair and Square. “He’s such a fun horse to have in the barn,” trainer Tom Drury Jr. said of Who Dey, named for the Cincinnati Bengals rally cry. “He’s just a big, strong colt that enjoys his job.” :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Maccabee Farm homebred Who Dey, who will have Willie Martinez in the irons, is nevertheless the even-money morning-line favorite in the field of 12. The son of Kentucky sire Liam’s Map is making his second appearance on the fall Best of Ohio program, after an unbeaten 2-year-old championship campaign that included a score in the Juvenile, as well as an open-company allowance-level win at Churchill Downs in which eventual 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan was fifth. This year, Who Dey was second in the Lafayette at Keeneland, then a deceptively good fourth in the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile at Churchill. He was beaten in a photo for second, but, most significantly, was just more than 1 1/4 lengths behind victorious Seize the Grey, the subsequent Preakness Stakes winner. Two more stakes placings against open company followed, as he was second in the Grade 3 Matt Winn, and third by a length in the Ellis Park Derby. Most recently, Who Dey returned to his home state, and the winner’s circle, with a neck win against older foes at the allowance level at 6 1/2 furlongs. Who Dey stretches out to 10 furlongs for the Endurance, rather than opting for the six-furlong Best of Ohio Sprint, which he also was nominated to. Drury is “cautiously optimistic” the colt will handle it. “We spent most of the summer figuring out what he really wants to do. . . . The 1 1/4 miles suits him better than the sprint,” Drury said. “He’s a big, leggy horse.” Fair and Square comes off an open-company tilt himself, sixth in a salty allowance at Churchill won by multiple graded stakes winner Mr. Wireless. Prior to that, he scored two open-lengths wins in his typical forward fashion, including the Governor’s Buckeye Cup. Fair and Square won last year’s Endurance by 7 1/4 lengths over Tantrum and Raven Moon, both of whom return for the 2024 edition. Tantrum, who won the 2021 Best of Ohio Juvenile, capped off an Endurance exacta for the breeding partnership of leading Ohio trainer Tim Hamm’s Blazing Meadows and Kentucky-based WinStar Farm. The “Winblaze” partners could have a huge Best of Ohio Day, with 10 entrants. The Best of Ohio Sprint features a similar storyline to the Endurance. The race’s defending winner, Trojan Tale, faces a 3-year-old who has run well against open foes, Alwaysintomischief. Alwaysintomischief, a maiden winner and allowance-placed against stakes-quality open company, was most recently fifth in the Grade 2 Gallant Bob at Parx Racing for Eric Foster. In three appearances in the state of his birth, he won the Howard B. Noonan and Daryl E. Parker Memorial Tall Stack Stakes, and was second in the Honey Jay Stakes to the older foe Stage Name, with Diamond Dust third. He faces both of those again here. Trojan Tale has made just two starts since winning the 2023 Sprint over Diamond Dust and Startdfromdabottom, finishing fourth in a pair of allowance races for Mike Maker. Diamond Dust, a five-time stakes winner including the 2018 Juvenile, has not missed the board this season. In addition to his runner-up effort last year, he was third in both the 2019 and 2021 editions of the Sprint. This field also includes 2022 Sprint runner-up Dougie D Oro, a five-time stakes winner who is making his second start off a layoff of more than a year. Here’s the Spider and Generous Lover will vie for favoritism in the Best of Ohio Distaff. Queen City Oaks winner Here’s the Spider, a winner on this program last year, was most recently fourth in the Seneca Overnight at Churchill. Generous Lover has won 5 of 9 outings this year, including lower-level wins against open company in Kentucky. She owns runaway two-turn stakes wins in the Pay The Man and Vivacious, and was most recently second by a neck in the Scarlet and Gray sprinting. She gets back to a better distance here. The Best of Ohio Juvenile and the sister race, the John W. Galbreath Stakes, could have divisional championship implications depending on the Breeders’ Cup results. Fortissimo comes into the Juvenile unbeaten in four starts for Winblaze, including the Cleveland Kindergarten and the Hoover Stakes. Parlay, part of a Winblaze entry in the Galbreath, was second to colts in the Loyalty Stakes, then won the Emerald Necklace. Silver Kiss is unbeaten in three starts, including two stakes, by a combined 23 3/4 lengths. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.