Lane Of Stone surpassed the half-million dollar earnings plateau with a convincing 1:54 victory in Miami Valley’s $22,000 Open Trot on Tuesday (Jan. 19).

The five-year-old son of Ohio sire Wishing Stone now has 21 wins and $509,052 in earnings, although only four of those victories have come in the last year.

Signal Hill beat favoured Lane Of Stone off the gate, but driver Dan Noble persevered until Lane Of Stone finally crossed over to the lead after the pair passed the opening quarter in :28.1. Following a sensible second quarter in :29 seconds, Noble let Lane Of Stone trot a little more, reaching the three-quarter station in 1:25.2 before thwarting a late-closing effort by Its A Herbie to win.

Mark Winters Sr. trains Lane Of Stone, who was a dominant force in the juvenile stakes in the Buckeye state, for owner Harry Horowitz.

Finalists were determined in two Claim To Fame series that had their preliminaries conclude on Tuesday.

Two divisions were contested by $12,500 claiming mare pacers. Glenferrie Bronte N (Billy Mann, 1:54.4) was a repeat winner in 1:54.4 to establish herself as a probable favorite in the $20,000 final next week. Persistant Xample (Miller, 1:53.4, $5.60) captured the other split and will get strong support at the betting windows as well.

The remaining finalists will be Pappy Rocks, Bellini Seelster, Sweet Western, Official Treasure, Corner Pocket, Ideal’s Nicole and Ull Learn.

Three groups of $8,000 claiming-pacing males squared off to determine the top nine money earners in the series, the benchmark for making the $22,500 championship leg. Winners were 14-year-old Montana Pablo A (Trace Tetrick, 1:53.4, $5.20), Believeinyourmach (Kayne Kauffman, 1:54.1, $10.80) and Bettors Dream (Tyler Smith, 1:54.3, $10.60).

Also qualifying for the lucrative final were Believeinthespirit, Tyber Tyke, Anarchy Hanover, Gallery Opening, Cool Like That and Portrstownchris IR.

(Miami Valley Raceway)