Lebanon, OH – Sectionline Bigry may be as sharp as any horse in the country at this time. On Thursday (March 31), the 7-year-old son of Pet Rock scored his fourth consecutive triumph in Miami Valley’s Open I Handicap Pace, doing so with his second sub-1:50 victory in his last three starts.

As he has throughout his current 10-race streak of top-three finishes, Sectionline Bigry and driver Brett Miller got away last before grinding toward the front about three-eighths of the way

Sectionline Bigry continued his quest to be named Horse of the Meet at Miami Valley with his sixth win in 10 seasonal tries, all in the weekly Open I features. Conrad photo.

into the one-mile race. By doing so, Sectionline Bigry had moved up to fifth on the outside at the half and fourth at the three-quarters before collaring pacesetter Oakwoodnitownit R (Trace Tetrick) in the last sixteenth. E Mode’s Desire (Mike Peterson), who was in tow on Miller’s helmet the entire last lap, also raced huge to finish second; Tetrick’s charge held on for third.

Sectionline Bigry now has 10 seasonal starts with six wins, two second-place finishes and two third-place finishes. Amazingly, he has paced all 10 miles under 1:52 despite racing in Ohio winter weather all of January, February and March. As a reward for his recent domination, Sectionline Bigry will get a well-deserved rest from the Miami Valley racing wars next week.

Tivo Hanover (Jeremy Smith) upset the Open II pacers with a 1:53.2 tally over Thrasher (Tyler Smith) and Sectionline Twister (Kayne Kauffman). Also a 7-year-old son of Pet Rock, the Michael Barrett trainee paid $24.80. He is owned by Mitchell Standardbreds, T.D. Smith and Neil Goldstein.

The 50-cent Pick-5 (races 10-14) went unsolved for the second straight day, creating a carryover of $6,230 and prompting an instant $15,000 guaranteed pool — offered in conjunction with the USTA Strategic Wagering Program — when Miami Valley next races on Sunday (April 3). The Pick-5 sequence on Sunday will begin with the $35,000 final of the Tom Tharps Memorial series, which will be followed up with four additional competitive full-field events.