Secret Threat (Trace Tetrick) and Voracity (Dan Noble), currently the top two horses in North America in terms of seasonal earnings, finished first and second in the $37,500 championship leg of Miami Valley’s Claim To Fame Series for $30,000 claimers on Sunday (Jan. 24).

Secret Threat was on top of the field at the first quarter beam in :27.1, but was shuffled back to fourth before Voracity reached the halfway point in :55.2. Voracity held the lead through three-quarters in 1:22.2 and kept the field at bay until Secret Threat reached to prevail in the final steps.

The 1:51.1 clocking was the quickest of Secret Threat’s three wins this year to go with one second-place finish. Trainer Tyler George owns the nine-year-old son of Palone Ranger with longtime friend Justin Lloyd. The Tetrick-George driver-trainer combination has been a dominant force in the first month of the Miami Valley meet, with Tetrick well ahead in the dash derby and George sporting a Universal Training average close to .600.

The champion was also determined in the Claim To Fame division for $10,000 trotters on Sunday. Air Assault (Kayne Kauffman) captured the title in 1:57.2 despite an outside post position draw. Owner Chad Stone and trainer Larry Finn collared the winner via the claim box in the first round of the series, then proceeded to win both the second leg and the $22,500 final to bank $17,250 in just two weeks of ownership. P C Foreign Affair (Jason Brewer) and Jailhouse Buckaroo (John DeLong) finished second and third, respectively.

(Miami Valley Raceway)