Lebanon, OH — Calculated Concept won for the second time this year by taking the featured conditioned trot at Miami Valley Raceway on Tuesday night (April 14).
Starting from post 4, Calculated Concept and Tyler Smith joined a host of leavers aimed at taking the lead, but quickly reversed course and were content on settling in third until 9-5 favorite My Next Chapter broke stride and opened up a seat in the pocket behind Volstarita. The field lined up in a gapped-out single-file formation to an opening quarter of :27.2. From there, Luke Ebersole and Volstarita tapped the brakes, and the field tightened up on the way to a comfortable half in :57.2. As they headed down the backside, In The End pulled from sixth and flushed first-over cover from Nelli Up in third as Volstarita picked up the pace while the outside pair closed in.
As they passed three-quarters in 1:25, Nelli Up had pulled within a nose of leader Volstarita while Calculated Concept continued to stalk them from third as In The End sat on the outside fourth. As they trotted the final turn, Volstarita and Nelli Up continued to battle nose to nose as those behind closed up ranks. Into the stretch, Volstarita led by a head but drifted ever so slightly off the rail, which allowed Calculated Concept to sneak up the inside and unleash a burst of late speed to open up and win by 2-1/2 lengths in 1:54.4.
Tally The Tab rallied up the inside for second while In The End closed from the outside for third.
For the Chris Mc Guire trainee Calculated Concept, it was his second win of the year and fifth lifetime victory.
Brett Miller led all drivers with five wins on the card while Chris Page had three wins. One of Brett’s wins was with Say Oui (Brittany Baker), who won her fifth start in a row. Page’s three wins all came while at the helm for leading Miami Valley trainer Ron Burke. Robert Cleary and Brian Brown also had two wins on the card.
Racing action at Miami Valley returns Wednesday night (April 15) with a post time of 4 p.m.