by Tim Harless, Race Manager, Darke County Fair

Greenville, OH — The Great Darke County Fair will host the $20,000 (est.) Gene Riegle Memorial Open Pace, sponsored by Brittany Farms, Remington Steel, the Darke County Harness Horsemen’s Association, and the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association.

Racing returns to Greenville, Ohio, on Friday night (Aug. 16) for the Great Darke County Fair’s annual week long race meet. Racing also takes place on Saturday (Aug. 17), afternoon and night, and on Thursday (Aug. 22) and Friday (Aug. 23) in the afternoon and night. Afternoon post times are 1 p.m. with evening post times at 7 p.m.

The first Friday and Saturday night will feature the Ohio Colt Racing Association events. Friday night also will feature the Terry Thomas Memorial Signature Series Trot. Saturday night will feature the Rhys Bowman Memorial Signature Series Pace.

The following Thursday and Friday will have afternoon and evening sessions and will feature the Dr. H.M. Parshall Memorial Futurity.

All the sessions will host several overnight events for both trotters and pacers.

Closing night will feature the second edition of the Gene Riegle Memorial Open Pace. The event is open to the world, with no more than eight starters; the top eight 2013 money earners entered will have preference, no trainer’s entries. The event is carded as one dash for a purse of $20,000 (est.).

Closing night will feature a giveaway to the first 1,000 fans buying a racing program. They will get a Gene Riegle commemorative mug. This is the beginning of an annual giveaway for a series of mugs.

Nightly there will be t-shirt giveaways to the fans in the stands as well as the fans that line the track by the Darke County Harness Horsemen’s Association.

The Great Darke County Fair wishes to thank all of the sponsors and the warm outpouring of contributions which will make this year’s events possible.

“We just could not do what we do without the help of all our sponsors,” said Richard Delk, Speed Superintendent for the fair. “Without Brittany Farms, and Remington Steel and Horse Gold, the Riegle race would never be reality. Their support makes this possible. Our local horsemen’s association is a big plus, too. And this year the state horsemen’s association has asked the state to give us $5,000 for the race. We expect formal approval on Aug. 22, just in time to give us a $20,000 purse.”