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Lebanon\u2019s Kayne Kauffman guides Act Accordingly to a wire-to-wire win in the first race of Monday\u2019s eight-race card at the Miami County Fair. (Press Pros Feature Photos)<\/strong><\/p>\n Miami County\u2019s most noted, and most active, horseman quietly goes about his business of training winners.\u00a0 Quietly?\u00a0 He says he doesn\u2019t do interviews, but he did this one for Press Pros.\u00a0 Mike Polhamus shares his love for horses and competition on opening night of the Miami County Fair racing.<\/strong><\/p>\n But be prepared to do most of the talking because Polhamus is a man of few, and even fewer, words.<\/p>\n Logan Services, in Dayton, Cincinnati, and Columbus proudly sponsors your favorite sports on Press Pros Magazine.com.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Troy native horseman is a super nice guy, but as he says, \u201cI prefer to let my horses do the talking.\u201d<\/p>\n Hall of famer Hal McCoy writes UD Flyer basketball and OHHA racing, exclusively, for Press Pros Magazine.com.<\/strong><\/p>\n And they talk with an air of success on the harness racing county fair circuit, especially at the Miami County Fair.<\/p>\n The first Polhamus horse to do the talking Monday was Go Accordingly. On the first race of the two-day Miami County Fair program, Go According went accordingly, wire-to-wire, never challenged, in 1:59 and a fraction.<\/p>\n And what did Polhamus say before the race? \u201cYeah, he has a chance. He can win.\u201d From Polhamus, that was an eloquent speech.<\/p>\n Polhamus, who has been around horses from the day he scrambled out of a cradle, built his own barn on the Miami County Fairgrounds and on Monday 26 racers occupied stalls.<\/p>\n As a group stood chatting in front of a stall occupied by Occupational Hazard, the horse kept kicking the walls.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s cantankerous,\u201d said Polhamus. \u201cHe kicks the wall and knocks off his back shoes. He\u2019s very full of himself.\u201d<\/p>\n In another stall was a mare named Illegal. And at the other end of the barn stood Illegally Funded.<\/p>\n He\u2019s trained so many horses\u2026so many races run\u2026that he can\u2019t begin to guess. And yet, Mike Polhamus watched with the railbirds during Monday\u2019s racing at the Miami County Fair, in Troy.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIllegal won $100,000 so I used that money to buy the other horse and named him Illegally Funded,\u201d said Polhamus.<\/p>\n The subject arose about naming horses, some clever, some absurd, and Polhamus smiled and said, \u201cI never saw a horse in the winner\u2019s circle with a bad name.\u201d<\/p>\n Polhaus, 66, a lifer in the barns has no idea how many horses he has trained?<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t even guess. Thousands?\u201d<\/p>\n He has no idea how many winners he has had both as a driver in his younger days and a trainer. Thousands?<\/p>\n He says he has no favorites but he is proud of one 5-year-old standing in his barn. \u201cNot really any real favorites, but there has been a few. It\u2019s kinda hard to pick one out of all I\u2019ve ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n Then one came to mind.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the 1990s I had a horse called Nardie Jeff and he was an amazing animal.\u201d<\/p>\n And then another popped into his mind.<\/p>\n Read about OHHA racing, horses, and drivers each week, exclusively on Press Pros Magazine.com.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cTwo years ago I had a 2-year-old called Rumble Strips. He set a world\u2019s record at Delaware for 2-year-olds that still stands,1:53.2,\u201d said Polhaus.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s back in training after I turned him out for a while and he hasn\u2019t raced but I\u2019m getting him ready to get back racing.\u201d<\/p>\n Polhaus admits that there is nothing he\u2019d rather do than live his daily life surrounded by horse flesh.<\/p>\n \u201cA couple of years ago I told my son that I might sell out, buy an RV and see America,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd my son said, \u2018By the time you got to Indiana you\u2019d be looking for a horse.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Two for the books\u2026.Hal McCoy (left) has fifty years of writing about the Cincinnati Reds\u2026Mike Polhamus (right) has 50 years of teaching horses how to win.<\/strong><\/p>\n Polhamus broke into a broad smile, shook his head, and said, \u201cYeah, he\u2019s probably right.\u201d<\/p>\n Polhamus is humble and some may call him brusque or off-putting, but it is more a shyness and a demeanor that doesn\u2019t like a spotlight aimed at his eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been asked to do interviews about 50 times and always said no,\u201d he said, as he granted this interview to Press Pros Magazine.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad was a farmer by trade in Troy but he always had about 20 racehorses,,\u201d he said about his background.<\/p>\n \u201cHorses just get to your soul,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m very blessed. I get up every morning and get to do what I like to do. Come here and be with horses.\u201d<\/p>\n Polhamus seldom climbs into the sulky these days, \u201cJust two or three times a year, but I like the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n He leaves the driving to Lebanon\u2019s Kayne Kauffman, who won his 4,000th race last season and Polhamus says, \u201cHe does 90% of my driving.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1-150x150.png\")
Troy, OH \u2014<\/strong> If you want to talk to a man about a horse in Miami County, Mike Polhamus is your man.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Logan_inset2070125.jpg\")
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\u201cIt\u2019s the greatest thing in the world to train horses,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople ask me when I\u2019m going to retire and I tell them, \u2018When I die.\u2019 What else am I going to do? I know so many people who hate going to work and I feel for \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Arbogast_FYIHorse0717-e1754536329981.jpeg\")
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