Cline, Leon Top Fall Meet Standings at Mahoning Valley

The fall meet at Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course came to a close on another high note and for the fourth time in 2021, the Austintown oval added another top-five wagering day to its list of record handle days.

"Over the course of the past year we have offered multiple new wagering opportunities for our handicappers and they have responded positively," said Elizabeth Rogers, assistant director of racing. "To say we are happy would be an understatement."

The battle for leading trainer was another tight contest with the barn of Robert C. Cline pulling off the victory bringing home 18 wins over the course of the 42-day meet.  His charges earned just north of $340,000 and allowed him to eclipse the million-dollar mark in 2021 for the first time. This year, Cline has also been able to find considerable success with his 2-year-old Ohio-bred Thedayofthegrey  who impressively won the Ohio-accredited Joshua Radosevich Memorial Stakes Dec. 18 at Mahoning Valley.

Sonny Leon returned in force to the Austintown oval this fall and romped home to a third riding title at Mahoning Valley finding the winners circle 40 times with his mounts earning $755,000. Leon also partnered up with Cline's Thedayofthegrey and Uriah St. Lewis's Forewarned  for two stakes victories during the course of the meet.

The highlight of the Ohio-bred racing program came in the form of Richard Zielinski trained 8-year-old Ohio-bred warrior Altissimo . Owned by Nancy Lavrich and Ronald Zielinski, the Noble Causeway  gelding joined the millionaires club this fall with two stake victories, the first coming in the Best of Ohio Sprint Oct. 30 and the second Nov. 20 in the Cardinal Handicap.

Racing returns to Mahoning Valley on New Years Day, featuring eight races and a first race post time of 12:15 p.m.