Lebanon, OH — If the preliminary legs are any indication, the $22,500 championship finals of a pair of Claim To Fame late-closers next Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 29) at Miami Valley Raceway should be humdingers. Five final divisions for $8,000 claiming geldings and a pair of splits for $12,500 claiming mares were contested on this Tuesday’s matinee (Jan. 22) to reduce the original hopefuls down to just nine for each final.

Winners among the $8,000 male pacers were Special Luke (LeWayne Miller, 1:54.2, $3.60 mutuel), Communicator (Todd Warren, 1:53.4, $6.40), Trixsen Gram (Dan Noble, 1:52.3, $9.00), Giovanni (Trace Tetrick, 1:53.3, $5.00) and Cool Like That (Brett Miller, 1:53.3, $5.00). As two-time winners in the series, Cool Like That and Giovanni are likely to be favorites in the lucrative final with the others hot on their heels. In addition to the three other second-leg winners, the field will also include Alero Blue Chip, Jacks Desire, Shift Right and Why Don’t U Stay.

On the distaff side, Townlinedaliscard (Chris Page, 1:54.2, $7.80) and Ginger Tree Alexis (Noble, 1:54.4, $4.20) copped divisions of the $12,500 mares series. There were no two-time preliminary leg winners among the females, so the championship in the class sets up as anybody’s race to win. In order of preliminary leg earnings, the finalists are Ginger Tree Alexis, Cenalta Diamond, Townlinedaliscard, Always A Vision, Golden Paradise, Upfront Supersonic, Granny Pants, Shot Of Sweet Love and Likeafireballshot.

The popular annual January Miami Valley Claim To Fame Series features seven different classes with two legs and a championship. The groupings were $8,000 and $12,500 pacing mares; $8,000, $12,500, $20,000 and $30,000 pacing males; and $15,000 claiming trotters. In the second leg of each series, a 30 percent claiming tag premium was allotted to each horse. There will be no claiming in the approaching lucrative championship tilts.