Lebanon, OH — Thursday’s (March 24) $28,000 Open I Handicap Pace at Miami Valley did not lack for excitement, as Sectionline Bigry narrowly prevailed in a six-horse cavalry charge to the finish line to record his fifth win of the season.

Sectionline Bigry made it three in a row, winning the Open I Handicap at Miami Valley. Conrad photo.

With 50 yards remaining, the contending horses — all six of them — were fanned out across the track and noses apart. When they hit the finish line in 1:50, four of them were still lapped onto each other. Sectionline Bigry, driven by Brett Miller, made his customary charge down the outside of the track to his third straight victory, a nose better than Blank Stare (Tony Hall) and a half length over E Mode’s Desire (Mike Peterson). Oakwoodnitowinit IR (Trace Tetrick) was lapped on in fourth and YS Mathis (Dan Noble) finished fifth.

Steve Bauder trains Sectionline Bigry for owner Harold Lee Bauder. The 7-year-old son of Pet Rock has hit the board in all nine of his 2022 starts, having recorded five wins, two second-place finishes and two third-place finishes while amassing $91,460 in seasonal earnings.

Before the race started, Rock Diamonds N (Mitchell Cushing) suffered a broken bit as the field gained speed behind the gate. Thanks to some heads-up thinking by starter Mike Woebkenberg, fellow driver Chris Page and outrider Kristina Smith, the situation was resolved safely and quickly. Woebkenberg, after signaling for a recall, gradually slowed the gate to a crawl as the drivers peeled off the wings one by one — with the exception of Page, who paced side-by-side with the endangered horse and driver, thus keeping them pinned between himself and the pylons until Smith could move into position to catch the ‘loose’ horse.

Racing at Miami Valley resumes Sunday (March 27); post time is 4:05 p.m.