Poison Oak, a recent private purchase addition to the Virgil Morgan Jr. Stable, captured the $15,000 championship leg of the George Williams Memorial Series, one of nine series being contested at Miami Valley honouring the memory of ‘Lebanon Legends’ of days gone by.
The four-year-old son of Always A Virgin topped E R Oliver (Tyler Smith) by a length with Awinkandagrin (Jeremy Smith) another three-quarters of a length back in third.
Miami Valley’s leading driver Josh Sutton sent Poison Oak charging out of the gate from the eight hole and steadily forged to the front just past the :27.2 opening panel. The winner posted middle fractions of :55.2 and 1:24.2 before finishing the job by stopping the clock in 1:53.4. The George Williams Series featured male pacers who were shy of either four pari-mutuel wins or $30,000 in earnings when the nominations closed on March 1.
It was the eighth career win for Poison Oak, owned in partnership with Morgan Jr. by Carl Howard, and increased his lifetime bankroll to $38,876. As the second choice on the tote board, Poison Oak paid $5.80 while the exacta kicked back $24.20.
(Miami Valley)