from Miami Valley Raceway

Lebanon, OH — There were no relapses for Rehab Mountain on Sunday (Jan. 11) as the 8-year-old gelding raced “clean as a whistle” to win Miami Valley Raceway’s $16,500 Open Trot for the second week in a row.

Conrad photo

Rehab Mountain was a repeat winner in the $16,500 Open Trot at Miami Valley Raceway on Sunday.

Driver Brad Hanners, who also trains the winner, settled into a snug pocket behind Celebrity Hercules (Dan Noble) through fractions of :28, :57.3 and 1:26 before angling out at the head of the stretch and passing the pacesetter in the final strides to win by a half-length in 1:55. Mr Web Page (Kayne Kauffman) finished third, Victory Is Coming (Ammon Hershberger) fourth and favored CI’s Buckeye (Chris Page) fifth in the full nine-horse field.

The B6 Racing Stable owns Rehab Mountain who now boasts 27 wins and $245,687 in earnings in 99 lifetime starts.

A pair of Claim To Fame series opening legs were also contested on the late afternoon Sunday program, with two divisions for $5,000 claiming mares and three splits for male $20,000 claimers.

In the mares heats, Debi’s Sign (Josh Sutton) and EE Bay (Tyler Smith) came up with identical 1:56.2 triumphs in the $5,000 races. The series promises to produce some exciting racing as just three lengths separated the nine mares at the wire in the first split and all nine in the second split were within six lengths at the finish.

Debi’s Sign, sent off at 34-1 odds, closed from seventh at the head of the stretch to nip Luna Hanover (Kayne Kauffman) and She Can Attack (Kyle Ater) and pay $70.40 to win.

EE Bay went gate-to-wire as the 2-1 second choice in the betting, holding off Miss HKB (Jeremy Smith) and Bonnie’s Beach (Charlie Neff).

Winners in the trio of $12,500 divisions for the $20,000 claimers were Tomitta Bayama (Jeff Nisonger) in 1:53.4, Saulsbrook Astrobo (Kayne Kauffman) in 1:53.3 and Littlebitaclass (Chris Page) in 1:52.3. Both Tomitta Bayama and Saulsbrook Astrobo used frontstepping style, while Littlebitaclass employed a pocket ride strategy.

Tomitta Bayama bested Blue Fin (Dan Noble) and Vincent Vega (Tyler Smith) by just a half-length. Saulsbrook Astrobo was three-quarters of a length better than Volo (Randy Tharps) with Rusty’s No Fool (Greg Grismore) another neck back in the show spot. Littlebitaclass proved a head better than pacesetter Dabestleaderever (Dan Noble), while Fudge (Shawn Barker II), who was claimed from the race, rallied for third.

Racing resumes Wednesday night at Miami Valley when the Claim To Fame focus shifts to five divisions of $5,000 claiming races for male pacers, plus a pair of divisions for $8,000 claiming pacing mares. Post time is 6:30 p.m.