Lebanon, OH – Fearless Ginger returned to the winner’s circle Thursday night (Jan. 22), taking Miami Valley’s $32,000 feature for pacing mares.
The 5-year-old Fear The Dragon mare hasn’t stepped outside of the Open ranks since November 2024, a span of 33 starts, however, the win photo had been eluding her of late, with only one trip across the line first in her last 12 starts. One thing you can say though, it hasn’t been from a lack of effort as she has only finished outside the top three once in her last six starts.
Leaving form post 8, regular pilot Chris Page fired her off the wings to the front and she easily cleared and crossed over to the lead the field past a quarter in :28. Favorite Louisville GB soon came calling with a first-up charge that looked to be a brush for the lead as she pulled even just before the half-mile turn, but she was repelled by Fearless Ginger as the speed quickened past the half in :56.1.
As the field headed down the backside, Fearless Ginger opened up by a length and a half and looked to be under a comfortable hold by Page as she cruised past the three-quarter pole in 1:24.2. From there, the only battle contested was for second as Fearless Ginger drew off, winning by 3-1/2 lengths in 1:52.2. Adashious Hanover used a pocket trip to hold second while Rose Run Vision rallied from sixth to round out the trifecta.
The win was one of two on the card for North American leading trainer Ron Burke, and one of four wins for driver Chris Page. David Miller and Jeremy Smith each had three driving wins while MVG leading trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. also had two training wins.
After three weeks of action, the driving title is hotly contested. Returning Buckeye David Miller leads all with 26 wins while Brett Miller and Chris Page each have 20. Luke Hanners and Jeremy Smith round out the top five with 19 and 16 wins, respectively.
On the training side, Virgil Morgan Jr. has a comfortable lead with 16 training wins. Heather France, fresh off a hot Wednesday night, sits second with nine while Ron Burke and Ken Rucker follow with eight and seven wins, respectively. A two-way tie between Brittany Baker and Steve Carter, five wins each, finishes off the top five.
Racing action will return next week, although Sunday’s card is looking more and more improbable with the impending winter storm currently forecasted to dump about a foot of snow over the Miami Valley area on Saturday and Sunday. Be on the lookout for text alerts regarding Sunday’s races on late Friday or early Saturday as a decision will be made whether to race once the storm track and potential snow amounts are more accurate.