Can horses predict the OSU-UM winner?

11/18/2003

Both Ohio State and Michigan have plenty of “horses” on their football teams.

But the horses at Toledo s Raceway Park have already predicted the winner of Saturday s game.

For the last five years, the winner of the track s Buckeye-Wolverine Pace has correctly predicted the winner of the big game.

The event has been going on since 1988, when the track started matching up four pacers from Ohio against four from Michigan as part of its “Buckeye-Wolverine” night promotion. At the track on Sunday, both schools fight songs were played throughout the night, and the drivers wore their team s jerseys.

Last year, Ohio-owned Monturo won by a nose, and the Buckeyes won 14-9.

So who won on Sunday?

Blue Oxfords, a horse owned by Gale Moen from Lapeer, Mich. - by nine lengths.

“I m usually impartial with races, but I was happy to see a Michigan horse come out on top,” said Raceway Park general manager Michael White, a Wolverines fan.