Ohio (BRZ)

Ohio won four of eight starts in South America before moving to the U.S. for the 2016 season and winning his stateside debut on March 5 at Santa Anita Park. A pair of unplaced finishes in graded stakes sandwiched another allowance win in June at Santa Anita. After running third in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile Handicap, Ohio was unplaced in six straight starts, five of which came in graded stakes, from September 2016 through February 2018. He then made three starts in claiming races, during which he was claimed by Michael McCarthy on behalf of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Bruce Treitman and then won his first start for his new owners.

Later that year, he regained his elite form, running third in the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile Stakes at Del Mar in October 2018, winning the Cotton Fitzsimmons Mile Handicap in January at Turf Paradise, and then running second in the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes in February at Santa Anita. In his next race, Ohio earned a breakthrough graded stakes win when he nipped Catapult by a nose in the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes on March 30 at Santa Anita.