Lebanon, OH — Walter White, one of the Midwest’s most consistent check earners in the Open trotting ranks, broke through at Miami Valley Raceway on Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 14) to capture the track’s $22,500 feature for trotters in 1:54.1.

Walter White upset Sweet Mr Pinetucky in the $22,500 Open Trot at Miami Valley on Tuesday afternoon. Conrad Photo.

The 8-year-old winner of over a half million dollars topped Sweet Mr Pinetucky (Trace Tetrick) and Whata Swan (John DeLong) to shake a string of four straight place and show finishes at the top level.

Driver Jeremy Smith left enough to slip into third during a :56.4 first half mile. Shortly thereafter, Smith and Walter White rushed up on the outside to challenge the favored pacesetter and eventual runner-up Sweet Mr Pinetucky. Lapped onto the leader at the 1:25 station, the James Eaton trainee drew onto even terms by mid-stretch and surged ahead in the final strides.

Walter White paid $25.40 to win, and the exacta returned $89.20. The winning son of Cantab Hall is owned by Robert Silberberg.

The final pair of Claim To Fame series out of the eight that are currently underway at Miami Valley kicked off with first leg action for $12,500 claiming mares and $8,000 claiming horses and geldings.

Dont Mach Mia (Trace Tetrick) and M E Radar Girl (Brett Miller) won the two splits for mares in 1:54 and 1:54.1, respectively. Dont Mach Mia beat Crazy Bad K (Jeremy Smith) and Sweet Western (Brett Miller) to the wire as an odds-on favorite. The 5-year-old daughter of Mach Three was one of five entrants claimed out of the two nine-horse fields. She raced for owner Rene Allard and trainer Tyler George in the first leg, but will be part of the Larry Finn Stable in her next outing.

M E Radar Girl made her first start from the Virgil Morgan Jr. stable a winning one after a claim from a $10,000 event 11 days earlier during the first week of the Miami Valley meet. Co-owned by Carl Howard of Fazoli’s fame, the 7-year-old Radar Sign lass bested Galyns Gift (John DeLong) and Keystone Nikki (Trace Tetrick) in the first leg.

Winners in the quartet of $8,000 divisions for males were Colossal (Trace Tetrick, 1:54.1, $5.00), New Patrol (Chris Page, 1:53.3, $8.60), N Expense (Chris Page, 1:53.3, $9.00) and Putnams Attack (John DeLong, 1:53.2, $8.40). A total of nine horses, including only N Expense of the above winners, were collared out of the four divisions via the claim box during first-leg competition.