from the Pennsylvania Fair Harness Horsemen’s Association’s publicity office

Meadville, PA — The Pennsylvania Fair Circuit set up shop for a four-day stay at the Crawford County Fairgrounds in this northwest Pennsylvania city, with the first two days of action devoted to 2-year-olds.

Here are some of the highlights from that action:

The Great George Two-Annabelle Lane trotting filly A Little Laid Back, possibly named for owner/trainer/driver Roger Hammer, sped around the fairgrounds oval Monday (Aug. 24) in 2:04.1 for a new divisional track mark, her second of the summer following a 2:03.4 at Hughesville.

To put the clocking in perspective, it lowered the old mark of Glide By Shooting by 1-2/5 seconds; it is more than two seconds faster than any colt counterpart has won a race in here; it was 3-1/5 seconds faster than the faster colt division Monday; and it went three-fifths faster than the quickest pacing filly section went the next day.

A Little Laid Back is tied for second among North American 2-year-old trotting fillies with eight wins (believe it or not, there is an Illinois/Iowa filly named Surviver Di with 16 wins already, in just 84 days of racing).

Hammer had four wins on Monday and added another Tuesday.

Seth Dowling photo

Driver Nicholas Cook and pacer Ginger Tree Currie both broke their maidens with grandfather/trainer/groom Sam Beegle at the horse’s head.

Continuing a fine tradition on to its fourth generation, 20-year-old horseman Nicholas Cook visited Victory Lane for the first time Tuesday (Aug. 25), guiding the Well Said-Dragon So pacing colt Ginger Tree Currie to a 2:04.3 over Mclassic — the colt and his driver “breaking their maidens” at the same time.

Nicholas’s father is horseman Steve Cook, the main trainer for the stable of his grandfather Sam Beegle (like Beegle, Nick was an excellent high school wrestler), and his grand-grandfather was George Heit Jr., a noted southwest Pennsylvania horseman.

In the other two freshman pacing colt splits, the Western Terror-Free At Last colt Wagon Master made it three for three in his fair career, downing Hammer’s highly-regarded Billy’s Falcon, the only 2:00 freshman on the circuit to date, in 2:02.4, and Well Lets See joined Billy’s Falcon at seven for nine at the fairs with a 2:04.3 triumph.

Possibly no victory was better received than the 2:05.3 victory of Bellagio Bay in the FFA trot Tuesday, as the trainer was none other than hometown hero Boots Dunn.

The racing at Meadville continues Wednesday (trotters) and Thursday (pacers) for the 3-year-old set.