Lebanon, OH — A lot of good harness horses seem to get better when they should be past their prime, and the current Claim To Fame Series for $20,000 horses and geldings at Miami Valley Raceway is a perfect example.

Of the 25 horses who contested the first leg, 10 were 10 years old or older. Eight of the veteran pacers have eclipsed the 30 wins plateau while the other pair have 29 and 19 victories. The double-digit-aged stalwarts almost swept Tuesday’s (Feb. 1) three divisions, with two of them winning and a third narrowly defeated — by a 9-year-old.

Ten-year-old American Virgin won one of Tuesday’s three Claim To Fame Series events at Miami Valley. Conrad photo.

American Virgin (Tyler Smith, $18.40) triumphed over Rock Solid Image (Trevor Smith) and Lucifers Legend A (Brett Miller) in 1:54.3 in the first split. The 10-year-old Always A Virgin gelding’s lifetime scoreboard now reads 226 starts with 41 wins, 42 second-place finishes and 32 third-place finishes, good for $754,718 in purse earnings.

Not to be outdone, 12-year-old Major Bucks (Trace Tetrick) captured the second division, narrowly defeating 10-year-old Evergreen Elite (Miller) in 1:54. Shanghai Bobby (Chris Page) finished third. The winning son of Art Major now sports a career scoreboard of 36-48-59 in 299 starts. Entered by leading trainer Tyler George, Major Bucks will make his next start for Burke Racing and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, who purchased him via the claim box.

Owner William Cantrell and trainer Jeff Brewer, who campaign American Virgin, got a second series victory with 9-year-old Highlandbeachycove (Tyler Smith, 1:52.4), who nipped Hawk’s Red Chief (Dan Noble), who is two years the winner’s senior. Youngster Tick’s A Yankin secured the show share of the $20,000 purse.

If the theme for the day was older horses excelling during the current Miami Valley meet, the icing on the cake came in the 13th race. Don’t Say Goodby, a 14-year-old, defeated a full field of competitors averaging half his age in 1:54.3. The son of Dontgetinmyway has gone to the gate 353 times, won 46 times, and is nearing $500,000 in earnings. It was one of four wins on the program for Trace Tetrick.

Racing at Miami Valley resumes Wednesday (Feb. 2). Post time is 4:05 p.m.