Lebanon, OH — Proving once again that the race is never over at the draw, the two horses that drew the outermost posts for the $25,000 Open I Pace at Miami Valley on Saturday night (March 2) finished one-two at long odds.

My Hero Ron was an upset winner in Miami Valley’s top race, the Saturday night $25,000 Open. Holton photo

My Hero Ron (Tyler Smith) soared past the $800,000 career earnings plateau with an upset 1:51.1 victory, followed across the line by Fan Of Terror (Sam Widger)—who has been a mainstay on the North American Top 10 seasonal earners list thus far in 2019 by dominating the $20,000 claiming ranks.

Smith sat towards the back of the field as My Buddy Ninkster (Todd Warren) sprinted to the front and fended off challenges by Granite (Brett Miller) first and then show finisher Nuclear Dragon (Dan Noble).  My Hero Ron was third-over in the outer flow down the backside and had live enough cover to carry him to the head of the lane before swinging three wide for the stretch drive.  The Danny Dubeansky trainee, owned by Brian Witt and Cory Atley, was dispatched at 14-1 odds and paid $30.60 to the faithful who believed the ultra-consistent 7-year-old son of Well Said could do it from an outside start.  Fan Of Terror was sent off at 20-1 thus the hefty exacta payoff of $517.40.

A $20,000 Open II was captured by Mykindachip (Chris Page), another super consistent old timer, who bested Feelnlikearockstar (Mike Oosting) and Cinnamack (Brett Miller) in 1:50.4.  It was the 55th-lifetime victory from exactly 200 starts for the 10-year-old son of Art’s Chip and boosted his career bounty to $869,732.  Page managed an ideal two-hole trip for the winner, who hails from the Ron Burke Stable.

A pair of first leg George Williams Memorial Series divisions were contested earlier on the Saturday program.  The late closer for non-winners of four races or $40,000 lifetime produced a pair of 4-year-old winners who each took impressive new lifetime marks.

Gerardo (Kayne Kauffman), a recent $50,000 purchase at auction, sped to a 1:51.3 triumph over Noah Z Tam (Kyle Ater) and Velocity U Betcha (Brett Miller) in the first $12,500 split.  Kauffman, who eclipsed the $20 million mark in purse earnings on Friday, also trains the son of Rockin Image for new owner Mark Bogen.

Velocity Smoke (Dan Noble), trained by Mark Evers for his Velocity Standardbreds stable, scored in 1:52, besting Trial By Fire (Josh Sutton) and Reagan’s Avenger (Chris Page).

Racing resumes Sunday afternoon (March 3) with a 2:05 p.m. matinee.