Sectionline Bigry may be as sharp as any horse in the country at this time.
He scored his fourth consecutive triumph in Miami Valley’s Open I Handicap Pace on Thursday with his second sub-1:50 victory in his last three starts. The seven-year-old son of Pet Rock out of the prolific broodmare Aquatic Yankee now has ten seasonal starts with six wins, two seconds and two thirds. Amazingly, he has paced all ten miles under 1:52 despite racing in Ohio winter weather all of January, February and March!
On this occasion, regular driver Brett Miller chose to get away last—as he has throughout this 10-race streak of on-the-board finishes—then began grinding toward the front about 3/8ths of a mile into the race. By doing so, Sectionline Bigry had moved up to fifth on the outside at the half and fourth at the three-quarters marker. When the winner collared the pacesetter Oakwoodnitownit R (Trace Tetrick) it had to seem like déjà vu all over again as everyone watching knew Bigry was poised to wear down his final adversary in the last sixteenth. E Modes Desire (Mike Peterson), who was in tow on Miller’s helmet the entire last lap, also raced huge to finish second with Tetrick’s charge holding on for third.
As a reward for his recent domination, Sectionline Bigry will get a well-deserved rest from the Miami Valley racing wars next week.
Tivo Hanover (Jeremy Smith) upset the Open II pacers with a 1:53.2 tally over Thrasher (Tyler Smith) and Sectionline Twister (Kayne Kauffman). Also a seven-year-old son of Pet Rock, the Michael Barrett trainee paid $24.80. He is owned by Mitchell Standardbreds, T. D. Smith and Neil Goldstein.
The 50-cent Pick 5 (Races 10-14) went unsolved for the second straight day, creating a carryover of $6,230 and prompting management to announce an Instant $15,000 Guaranteed Pool--in conjunction with the USTA Strategic Wagering platform--when Miami Valley next races on Sunday, April 3. The Pick 5 sequence on Sunday will begin with the $35,000 championship leg of the Tom Tharps Memorial series and be followed up with four additional competitive full-field events.
(Miami Valley Raceway)