from Miami Valley Raceway

Lebanon, OH — Saturday (Jan. 28) was quite a night at Miami Valley Raceway for driver Chris Page and trainer Daniel Maier. Page swept the co-features — a $34,500 Claim To Fame series championship for $20,000 male pacers with Savage Seelster, as well as the weekly $22,000 Open I Pace behind Angelo J Fra. Maier, in his first month in Ohio, got his first win in the lucrative series final and the bonus of also sending out the place finisher.

Conrad photo

Savage Seelster won the lucrative $34,500 championship leg of the Claim To Fame series for $20,000 claimers on Saturday, scoring in 1:52.1 for driver Chris Page.

Page sent Maier’s Savage Seelster alertly from an outside starting position behind the gate, finding an early spot along the pylons in the blazing fast :26 opening panel. Shortly thereafter, as the pace slackened, he elected to ask Savage Seelster to attack and he did so with purpose, clearing to the front before the :55.2 halfway station. A :27.4 third panel allowed Page to maintain a three-quarter length advantage through the 1:23.1 third quarter, followed by a :29 closing quarter to seal the deal in 1:52.1.

Claimed in each of the preliminary legs of the series, Savage Seelster raced for new owner Clinton Lugar in the championship, topping Mosee Terror (Mike Oosting) and even-money favorite Perrito Caliente (Sam Widger).

Maier plucked Mosee Terror out of the first leg of the series for owner Laurie Patistas.

Savage Seelster returned $16.60 to win and the Maier-trained 8-5 exacta paid a handsome $79.80.

In the Open I, Page guided Angelo J Fra to his third straight win, moving up a class notch each time. Again Page put the petal to the metal as the wings sprung open, but was joined on his outside by My Buddy Ninkster (Tyler Smith). The winner briefly allowed his adversary to clear, but was right back out for the retake as the pair passed the quarter station in :26.3.

Angelo J Fra made every other call a winning one, parading the field through middle fractions of :56 and 1:23.3 before sailing home an impressive 1:51.1 winner. My Buddy Ninkster held strong for second while Fancy Creek Elusiv (Mike Oosting) got up for the show dough.

Angelo J Fra is a 5-year-old son of The Panderosa, owned by Burke Racing and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, and trained in Ohio by Kris Hinchcliff. He now sports 16 wins and $180,000 in earnings.

A $16,500 Open II Pace was captured by Lucky Lime (Kyle Ater) in 1:51.1 over Astreo’s Love (Andy Shetler) and Freedomformysoul (Kayne Kauffman). The 8-year-old Rocknroll Hanover gelding is owned by Kirk Nichols and is nearing the $300,000 earnings plateau with the triumph.

Racing resumes Sunday afternoon with a 2:05 p.m. matinee. Featured will be the $35,500 championship of the Claim To Fame series for $30,000 claimers, carded as the ninth race.