from Miami Valley Raceway

Lebanon, OH — Driver Josh Sutton and trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. captured their respective titles at the recently-concluded second-ever Miami Valley Raceway meet.

The 89-day season, which started Jan. 2 and ended May 3, could only be deemed a huge success as almost $8.5 million was doled out in purses, numerous track records were lowered, and overall average daily handle was up a whopping 29.2 percent.

Josh Sutton received the 2015 Miami Valley top driver award; he is flanked by Racing Operations Manager Helen Carlo and Race Secretary Gregg Keidel.

Sutton’s 182 wins not only dominated the Miami Valley driver’s dash standings, but currently places him fifth in the national wins column despite competing at just one track. In addition to his lofty win total, Josh managed 115 place and 92 show finishes, giving him an impressive .332 UDR average. Sutton visited the winner’s circle after 21.9 percent of his 832 races. Purse earnings for his mounts totaled $1,012,134, for an average of $11,372 per program.

Other top ten dash drivers at the 2015 Miami Valley meet were Dan Noble (with 121 wins), Kayne Kauffman (116), Chris Page (101), Jeremy Smith (80), Kyle Ater (69), Randy Tharps (66), Tyler Smith (62), Jason Brewer (49), and Ken Holliday and Jeff Nisonger (tied with 43 apiece).

Conrad photos

Virgil Morgan Jr. successfully defended his top trainer standing at Miami Valley in 2015. Presenting his award were Helen Carlo and Gregg Keidel.

Morgan garnered his second consecutive trainer’s title with 66 wins in 222 starts and a lofty .404 UTR average. The first trainer in harness racing history to reach 5,000 career wins and Ohio’s all-time leader, Morgan’s stable amassed $442,760 in earnings during the 2015 Miami Valley meet, an average of just a shade under $5,000 per program.

Jeff Brewer finished second in the conditioner’s standings (with 50 victories), followed by Chris Short (43), Dan Ater and Kayne Kauffman (33), Jim Arledge Jr. (28), Jim Dailey (24), Jeff Nisonger (21), Jim Pollock Jr. (18) and Deborah Swartz (17). A total of 16 stables earned more than $100,000 over the four-month meet.

Best post position was No. 5 with a winning percentage of 18.4. The percentage of winning favorites was 36.09.

Overall average daily handle was up 29 percent over the inaugural 2014 season.