It was the Luke and Brett show on Thursday, Feb. 12 at Miami Valley Raceway as the two drivers combined for 11 wins on the 14-race card. Luke Hanners led the way with six victories and Brett Miller tallied five wins.

Hanners was the only one of the pair to win a featured event, using a pocket trip to take the sub-featured $43,836 Fillies and Mares Open II Handicap Pace with Sarasota Hanover ($3.60). The mare followed Tarapasta (Austin Hanners) through :27, :55.3, and 1:23.1 splits, then collared her in the lane to win by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:51.2. Bluebird Alexis (Tyler Smith) was third. The winning five-year-old daughter of Stay Hungry-Surfside Sexy is now 12-for-49 lifetime. The victory headlined a triple for trainer Virgil Morgan Jr., who conditions her for Odds On Racing. Morgan also won with Strong Poison ($3.20) and Foxy Hill ($4.80), both driven by Hanners. He is 26-for-94 so far this season for a 27.7 per cent win rate.

Miller got things going in the opener with a coast-to-coast victory with Good Feeln To Know ($2.80). Hanners then scored his Open II win and followed that up in the next race by going gate-to-wire with the grizzled Ohio veteran Lane Of Stone ($6.20). In the fourth race, Miller returned to the winner's circle by guiding Dj Dan ($10) to a first-over victory. Hanners picked up win number three in the sixth dash by guiding Flirtini ($2.80) to a front-end win in a non-winners-of-one trot. Miller then took the seventh with Burrow ($2.60) via a second-over trip. In the eighth race, Hanners used a familiar tactic, this time taking Strong Poison down the road in a half-length victory to regain the day's lead with four wins on the card. 

Responding again with a tying victory, Miller went wire-to-wire in the ninth with Double A Goldrush ($7.60), giving that 12-year-old gelding his 50th career score in a $14,384 optional-claiming contest. The son of Elegant Man-Casual Chick put up the fractions of :27.3, :57.1, and 1:26.1 and began to separate from the rest at three-quarters, powering away to win by 7-1/2 lengths in 1:56.1. Dontforgetmaster (Trevor Smith) was second-best, with Vel Racetrackruler (Jeremy Smith) closing for show. Double A Goldrush is trained by Ross Leonard for Michael and Laura Lee and Terry Leonard. The gelding has amassed 50 wins while earning $565,326 in 267 starts.

Hanners faced a tougher time in the 10th, floating out from the gate but never finding a hole with Dry Creek Princess ($13.60). The pair was parked out from seventh and slowly grinded out a first-over trip, drawing even with the leader halfway down the stretch and eventually winning by a nose.

Down one again in the 12th race, Miller used a pocket trip with Penance ($29.60), the highest-priced winner on the card, to even the score at five apiece. In the 13th race, the final win in the battle for Thursday-night supremacy, Hanners once again set the pace and scored by a half-length with Foxy Hill for his sixth victory on the evening.

In one of two wins on the card for harness racing's new all-time leader in U.S. driving earnings, David Miller piloted Naked On A Hill ($14) to victory in the $49,315 Fillies and Mares Open Handicap Pace. Naked On A Hill dropped in third through the quarter in :27, moved first-up nearing the half in :56.3, and brushed to the front at three-quarters in 1:23.3 before rolling home to a 2-1/2-length victory in 1:51.3. Fearless Ginger (Chris Page) was second, followed by Hey Hey Mama (Luke Hanners). Ron Burke trains the winning daughter of Nob Hill High-Naked By Nine, who is now 23-for-67 lifetime. The five-year-old is owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.

With the racing week at a close at Miami Valley, David Miller (50) sits atop the drivers' standings after breaking the tie with Chris Page (48) on Thursday. Brett Miller (42) has now risen up to third while Jeremy Smith (38) and Luke Hanners (37) round out the top five.

Morgan (26) continues to lead the trainers' standings while Burke (20) remains in second. Heather France (19) and Steve Carter (15) are third and fourth, respectively, and Elson Miller and Ken Rucker are tied for fifth with nine wins.

Racing action will resume at Miami Valley on Sunday at 4 p.m.

(Miami Valley Raceway & Standardbred Canada; photo of Luke Hanners winning with Flirtini on Feb. 12)