Lebanon, OH — Miami Valley Raceway closed the books on its ninth season of live racing on Saturday (May 7), concluding with a card that included four $55,000 Ohio Sires Stakes divisions for sophomore colts and a $30,000 Open Trot.

Action Uncle was an easy winner in the closing day $30,000 Open Trot at Miami Valley. Conrad photo.

Before a packed house on Kentucky Derby Day, Action Uncle (Brett Miller) dominated the featured Open Trot, beating Flemsteen (Aaron Merriman) by 11 lengths in 1:52.2 with A Fancy Face (Austin Hanners) crossing the finish line in third.

Action Uncle caught a cozy pocket spot in the early going, but as the odds-on favorite chose to move to the point by a length in the second quarter. He extended the lead to two lengths three-quarters of the way, then to six lengths by the head of the stretch. With the outcome already determined, the winner trotted confidently through the wire with little, if any, urging from Miller.

It was the first win in about a year and a half for the 5-year-old horse by Uncle Peter due to a broken coffin bone at the end of his 3-year-old season. He missed his entire 4-year-old season while on the mend.

The quick clocking was just three-fifths of a second off the track trotting record for 5-year-olds and up, taken by Insomniac (Brady Galliers) in 2019.

It was Action Uncle’s third start back from the injury and established a new lifetime mark for the Virgil Morgan Jr. trainee.

His owners are Carl Howard, Joyce McClelland and Larry Wills. A dominating juvenile performer, Action Uncle is approaching $600,000 in career earnings.