Dayton, PA — A major theme running through the two days of Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes at the Dayton Fairgrounds was the quantity of horses who already had a nice number of fair wins adding to their totals, especially on Wednesday (Aug. 14), when the 2-year-olds raced.
In the colt divisions, trainer-driver Todd Schadel had a couple of horses fitting that description: one was the Papi Rob Hanover-Well What’s New pacing gelding Wheelhouse Hanover, undefeated in six “A” starts around the double ovals for Todd and his Cody, who shares in ownership, after the fastest freshman mile of 2:04 (Todd also swept the freshman colt paces with the “B” win of Alvin Hanover). There is also the Andover Hall-No Excuses trotting colt Andover’s Hotrod, undefeated in five “A” starts and the division’s season’s leader, who won for trainer-driver Schadel, who owns in partnership with Calvin Hoover.
Four-time “A” winners included the Heston Blue Chip-Tremor Hanover pacing filly Dont Touch My T, trained and driven by Aaron Johnston for his wife, Jennifer; and another horse driven by Aaron, the International Moni-K T Bird trotting gelding Mr Hopper, trained by Bill Daugherty Jr. for Susan Daugherty.
Keeping up their feud in the sophomore pacing colt ranks on Thursday (Aug. 15) were Schadel trainees Ante Up Hanover (6-5-1-0) and Twigg’s Pub (7-5-2-0). The Betting Line gelding Ante Up Hanover, the fastest horse of the fair season at 1:57, won their Dayton battle in the quickest time of the meet, 1:59.2, with Todd co-owning the winner with his wife, Christine.
Trainer-driver Steve Schoeffel swept the “A” events in the 3-year-old colt trot: with Bird And Grenade (2:05), a Father Patrick gelding owned by Fair Cousins Stable and Kathy Schoeffel; and Greenshoe gelding Cyclone Ben (2:04), for owners Kathy Schoeffel, Stephen Lander, Roger Ramesser and Renee Lovett.
The quickest trotter of the Dayton stand was Shady Maple Amber, a daughter of Andover Hall who won in 2:03.4 for driver Chris Shaw, trainer Ashley Brown, and First Up Racing Stable.
New Jersey native and current Florida resident Ronald Lubosco resumed his training and driving career last year with a one-horse stable, Good Queen Bess, who won first-over by a neck in 2:04.2 at Dayton, taking the 71-year-old Lubosco to the winner’s circle for the first time in 45 years.
For the only time this season at the Pennsylvania fairs, Thursday was a day when there was action at two fairs: at Dayton, and racing for 2-year-olds at the Somerset County Fair, in Meyersdale, Pa. There will be a full report on the Meyersdale racing after Friday’s (Aug. 16) sophomore races, which start at 12 noon. The whirlwind week will then conclude with Saturday and Sunday (Aug. 17-18) action at 1 p.m. at the Crawford County Fair, in Meadville, Pa.