Bloomsburg, PA — The Pennsylvania fair harness racing circuit made its final stop of the 2024 season this past Friday and Saturday (Sept. 20-21) at the historic Bloomsburg Fairgrounds, with supremacy among the eight stakes divisions and entry spots for the Oct. 11 Pennsylvania Fair Championships at The Meadows very much on the line.
Among the headliners were a pair of outstanding 2-year-old trotters who are stablemates and were the only horses who were 10-time winners at the fairs, and a pair of 3-year-old fillies who appear to have the chance to go to a rarified level achieved only once in 22 years of Pennsylvania fair racing.
Trainer-driver Tony Schadel, together with his wife, Linda, campaigned the Cantab Hall freshman filly Classy Cocktail and her contemporary, the Greenshoe gelding Lionheart Hanover. Both won for the 10th time at the fairs during Friday’s card for 2-year-olds, and both end the fair season with identical records of 14-10-2-2. They are the season’s fair speed leaders for their groups: Lionheart Hanover at 2:02 (Gratz), and Classy Cocktail with a 2:00.3 clocking (Bedford). Classy Cocktail also set two track records in a remarkably deep division, in which no fewer than seven fillies rewrote a line in the record books at various stops.
Aaron Johnston campaigns both Bloomsburg 2-year-old pacing filly “A” winners: Don’t Touch My T and Its Written, the fastest freshman at Bloomsburg at 1:59.1. Wheelhouse Hanover had clinched the title for 2-year-old male pacers before the weekend.
Switching to Saturday’s 3-year-olds, the headline fillies, trotter Little Town Road (trainer Roger Hammer) and pacer Showboat Hanover (trainer Todd Schadel) both topped the point standings and won their championship events at 2, and now they appear to have secured the point titles and blankets at 3, as well. They look to join Better Strait N Up as the only horses to sweep both titles at 2 and 3 in the past two decades.
Both victorious 3-year-old trotting colts at Bloomsburg were driven by Brady Brown for trainer Steve Schoeffel, and both won their sixth straight start at the fairs: Cyclone Ben and Bird And Grenade.
Todd Schadel had the top point winner among the pacing colts in Twiggs Pub, and also one with many other 2024 standards building on his 2023 championship win: Ante Up Hanover. He had the fastest “A” win at Bloomsburg, 1:57.3 (a Championship finalist, Aintbluenomore, dropped down to “B” and won in 1:57 for driver Eric Neal and trainer Mitchell York, prepping him well for the Championship). Ante Up Hanover also had the fastest mile of 2024 at any fair, a 1:55.3 jaunt earlier in the week at Gratz, and his six wins in 2:00 or less also gave him honors in that category.
Horses such as these last few earned Todd Schadel the 2024 top spot in both driving and training victories (97 and 91, respectively). Eric Neal was the top Bloomsburg driver with seven wins to give him second over Aaron Johnston, 63-60, and Tony Schadel edged Tom Loughry Jr. 37-35 on the conditioners’ side.
The Saturday Bloomsburg card was livestreamed. To watch, click this link.