by Tami Hartman

Circleville, OH — The 2014 Pickaway County Fair kicked off last weekend with two days of exciting harness racing action. After several years of low purses and short fields, the state-wide resurgence of the sport was obvious this year in Circleville.

Over the two day meet, 151 horses raced for more than $52,000 in purse money. Dan Noble, who is currently the third-leading driver at Scioto Downs, was the meet’s winningest driver with seven wins, two seconds, and a third in 14 starts.

The fastest race of the meet was the Bill Mayhugh Memorial Pace. Bettorseeitmyway paced the mile in 2:00 for Scioto Downs’ leading driver Chris Page and trainer Mary Dawson.

Local horsemen at the Pickaway County Fairgrounds that visited the winner’s circle were trainer Tom Blankenship, trainer Jim Arledge Jr., driver Alex Hawk, trainer/driver Matt Ammon, and trainer/driver Bryan Weaver.

Featured race winners included:

• Crown Time Keeper (Forrest Short Pace for 3-year-old fillies), trained by Steve Carter and driven by Chris Page.
• Hooray For Willie (Edward “Yock” Strawser Trot for 3-year-old colts), trained by Jim Arledge Jr. and driven by Kayne Kaufman.
• Trulee Grateful (George VanCamp Trot for 3-year-old fillies), trained by Doris Crandell and driven by David Myers.
• Dreams Oakie (John Fissell Pace for 2-year-old colts), trained by Steve Carter and driven by Chris Page.
• Blackhawk Lookout (Tish Arledge Memorial Pace for 3-year-old colts), trained by Herb LeVan and driven by Jack Dailey.

County fair harness racing is often the starting point for the sport’s next generation of great trainers and drivers, and the Pickaway County Fair saw two 16-year-old drivers make their first official starts. Logan Powell won the Macs Classic Open Trot in this first outing, while Hunter Myers drove in six races over the two days, finishing second four times.

Speed committee officials anticipate an even larger meet next year as the number of eligible Ohio-bred horses is on the increase.