Defending Ohio Champion pays a price in Open

LEBANON, OH – Smoking Jet (Triumphant Caviar) gave driver Chris Page one of his four triumphs on the Wednesday (May 3) harness racing program at Miami Valley Raceway.

Ohio’s defending older Trotter of the Year, Smokin Jet won the $34,000 Open Handicap Trot, upsetting Swan Fine Lady (Dan Noble), The Mighty Hill (Trevor Smith) and Fawn De Touch (Tony Hall) in 1:52.4 and returning $23.40 for a correct betting ducat.

Page thought about leaving hard but a handful of horses were pressing forward when the wings folded, so Chris decided early to tuck in fourth.

Swan Fine Lady protected he inside draw and got to the quarter mile marker in :27.4 with Fawn De Touch in the pocket and The Mighty Hill next in line third.  Those four made it a four-horse race the rest of the way.

The Mighty Hill was the first to move to the outside after the :56.1 half followed by Smoking Jet.  The quartet battled four wide down the stretch with Smoking Jet getting up in the final stride.  Swan Fine Lady raced gamely and ended up just a head behind.  Fawn De Touch finished a close third, but was placed fourth for going inside a pylon in the stretch.  The Mighty Hill was a lapped on fourth and thus placed third.

SMOKING JET REPLAY

It was the second seasonal Open class win in four tries at Miami Valley for Smoking Jet, who Page co-owns with Burke Racing and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.

The Open Trot at the Southwest Ohio oval has been highly competitive throughout the four-month season, which ends Saturday (May 6).  There have been eight different winners of the weekly top trot with no horse winning more than three.

Page’s other wins were behind Gettingyoursealegs (1:52.3, $11.20) and Boardwalk Jack (1:54.2, $15.80) in a pair of $20,000 Buckeye Stallion Series divisions, and Ideal Destiny (1:52.1, $17.80) in a $25,000 claiming event for mares.

The final two programs for the year at Miami Valley will take place on Friday (May 5) at 4 p.m. and a special noon start on May 6, which will feature eight $55,000 first leg divisions of the Ohio Sires Stakes and the $100,000 “Pace Baby Pace” Invitational honoring the memory of Pacey Mindlin.

For complete race results, click here.

From Miami Valley Raceway