Lebanon, OH — A crafty drive by Kayne Kauffman led Maggie Rhee to a convincing win in Miami Valley’s $30,000 Mares Open Pace on Tuesday (April 12).

Maggie Rhee scored a 1:51.1 triumph over Snobbytown in Miami Valley’s $30,000 Mares Open Pace on Tuesday afternoon. Conrad photo.

Despite leaving from the innermost post position, Kauffman was content to settle Maggie Rhee into fourth during a torrid :26.4 opening panel, in which Coral Reef Hanover (Brady Galliers) wrestled the lead from Snobbytown (Chris Page). Sensing a pedestrian second split, Kauffman moved the 5-year-old daughter of Jereme’s Jet first-up in the outer flow at the :56.2 halfway point. With the pace quickening considerably, Maggie Rhee advanced to second on the outside at the 1:23.3 third station, then pinned a :27.3 closing quarter on her adversaries to seal the deal. Snobbytown, making her initial 2022 start off a pair of qualifiers, raced well to be second with Sherri’s Babe (Sam Widger) rallying from far back for third.

Maggie Rhee now boasts 19 wins in just 44 lifetime starts, good for $202,407 in earnings. The Illinois-bred mare spent the winter racing at Hawthorne for trainer-driver Todd Warren, but has recently returned to the tutelage of trainer Tim Wilson Jr., who co-owns Maggie Rhee with partners Mark Eichberger and Norman Neff.

Earlier on the card, driver Tony Hall followed up on Monday’s grand slam at Miami Valley with a natural hat trick. His three consecutive winning drives came behind Camie’s Babygirl ($17.80), Roan Color ($4) and Big Teddy ($11.20).

Miami Valley will present live racing on Wednesday (April 13) and Thursday (April 14) at 4:05 p.m. before taking a three-day hiatus in conjunction with the Easter weekend.