Lebanon, OH — The Bill Dailey Memorial Medley, featuring odd distance races, got underway on Saturday (Feb. 6) at Miami Valley in two divisions. Although the track was listed as ‘good’ and was damp due to partial thawing, both divisions were clocked in 1:09.1 and were captured by the betting favorites.

GD Western Joe continued his dominance of the Miami Valley open class winning his third Open in his last four tries in 1:53.2 on Saturday. Conrad photo.

Crimson And Chrome closed well in the homestretch to pass Shane Adam (Sam Widger) and Goldinthebadlands (Brett Miller). Leading driver Trace Tetrick was in the sulky, driving for his brother Tim, who owns Crimson And Chrome. Trace’s 63 wins at Miami Valley since the meet commenced on Jan. 3 ranks second in the country behind only Aaron Merriman. Tim, who races in the East, is currently sixth on the U. S. leading drivers list as he rapidly approaches the coveted 12,000 victories plateau.

It was the 15th career triumph for the 5-year-old by Sweet Lou from just 48 trips to the gate.

Shagnwiththedragon (Dan Noble) won the other split by holding off longshot Snowball’s Romeo (Chris Page) and Prince Bayard (Kayne Kauffman). Tessa Perrin owns the 7-year-old son of Dragon Again and entrusts the training to her husband J. D. The winner now sports 24 wins from 115 lifetime starts.

GD Western Joe (Page) visited the winner’s circle for the fifth time in his last seven starts in the $20,000 Open I. He now has a string of eight straight races with first or second place finishes in Open competition. The Burke Brigade stable stalwart topped My Hero Ron (Josh Sutton) and Tivo Hanover (Kauffman) in 1:53.2 for his 28th victory in his 100th career start.

The unaltered son of Real Desire, with a 1:49.3 best at Miami Valley in 2020, passed the $600,000 earnings benchmark with the win.

An $18,000 Open II was also carded and was won by Loutenant (Tyler Smith) in a mild 10-1 upset in 1:52.1. Favored Voracity (Noble) was runnerup with Never Say Never N (John DeLong) finishing third.

Chief Mate (Brett Miller), a recent $225,000 purchase at The Meadowlands January auction by Black Magic Racing LLC of Ohio, exploded in the stretch to capture a top condition pace in 1:52 for trainer Todd Luther.

Business has been brisk in the first 25 days of the 2021 meet, with an average daily handle of $540,179, which represents a 35 percent increase over previous year levels.

Racing resumes on Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 7) with an early 12:05 p.m. post time.