by Thom Pye, for the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association

Mt. Gilead, OH — It took 168 years but the 1:56 barrier was eclipsed at this scenic half-mile oval 24 miles northeast of Delaware — and it happened twice within 20 minutes on Tuesday (Aug. 28).

Catch-driver Pierce Henry got the call behind Gerald Mijal’s 3-year-old filly Believe In Waco and sent the Steve Novack-conditioned daughter of Believeincruiser-Waco Sharon into the record books with a new all-age standard of 1:55.4 as the winner of $160,000-plus paced home in :29.3 over a determined Monnshinecharleigh (Cameron McCown) and a gutsy Eden’s Lucky Charm (Duke Sugg) in the $4,763 OFRC stake.

And not to be snubbed it was Cameron McCown, Adam Browning, and Wingfield Brothers’ Officially Nub with trainer/driver Cameron McCown in the stirrups sprinting home in :28.4 as the altered son of Art Official chalked up a new tab of 1:55.4, equalng the track’s still fresh highwater mark, and establishing a new record for 3-year-old geldings. McWiz with trainer/driver Ron Steck finished second as Bad Arte J (Duke Sugg) grabbed third.

McCown would make five trips into the Mt. Gilead winner’s circle along with four seconds on Tuesday.

Duke Sugg compiled four victories that included a win with Winchester Baye Acres’ Long Train Runnin as the Mike Conklin pupil cannonballed a mile in 1:56.4 on a day where the temps closed in on 92 and kept the action steaming as the Fair wrapped up its two-day 2018 season.