by Dean A. Hoffman
Anyone who knew Joanna Craig knew how much she loved harness racing. You knew how proud she was of the Ohio Sires Stakes program and how proud she was when an Ohio-sired horse went on to stardom. You knew that because Joanna never missed a chance to tell you.
USTA Photo
Joanna Craig
I was saddened when I read about Joanna’s death earlier this week, just two days after her 76th birthday. She was retired from her job as the administrator of the Ohio Standardbred Development Fund and lived in Powell, Ohio, about halfway between Columbus and Delaware. Joanna had five children, and, sadly, three of them predeceased her. In our last telephone conversation, I could tell how heavily that weighed on her heart.
It’s not surprising that Joanna came to love harness racing because it was in her blood and was very much a part of her youth in Urbana, Ohio in the 1930s and 40s. Her grandfather R.L. Craig campaigned the noted free-for-all pacer April Star, one of the most celebrated Standardbreds of the 1940s. April Star got national publicity not only for his achievements on the track, but because he accomplished them after overcoming a broken leg as a foal. His dam stepped on him after he was born and the foal was taken in the trunk of a car from Urbana to the Ohio State University vet clinic in Columbus.
April Star raced—and beat—the best pacers in North America on both coasts and Joanna never tired of reliving the wonder horse’s accomplishments.
Joanna grew up immersed in harness racing. She served as a teenage waitress at a banquet to honor Urbana’s own H.M. “Doc” Parshall for his legendary accomplishments on the track. She was a lifelong friend of Parshall’s son Hugh “Bud” Parshall, who died last August.
In the 1970s, Joanna worked closely with the late Don R. Millar, former USTA executive vice-president and Hall of Famer, to create the Ohio Sire Stakes. She never made any attempt to conceal her pride in the program and in the horses that became stars in Ohio. She knew virtually everyone in Ohio harness racing and they knew her. All you had to do is say “Joanna” to someone involved in Ohio harness racing and people knew it was Joanna Craig. She was the heart and soul of the Ohio Sires Stakes in the program’s early years and was loyal to Ohio-sired horses whenever they raced.
Joanna Craig was born in April, 1928 and died in April, 2004. She was truly the “April Star” of Ohio harness racing.
