by Kim Sloan

Painesville, OH — Painesville, Ohio hosted harness racing a little earlier in the year than usual. They moved the dates of their fair to accommodate 4H participants who, over the years, have ended up with an earlier back to school date. Two days of harness racing were held on Tuesday (July 25) and Wednesday (July 26) at noon. No pari-mutuel wagering was available this year.

Let’s begin with the 2-year-olds. Pacing filly Osborne’s, Ellie trained by Eric Hamlet, driven by Kurt Sugg and owned by Michael Osborne and Lori Hamlet, won her single division in 2:04.2.

Pacing colt Gaston never looked back, winning by 17-plus lengths in 2:03.2. He was also driven and trained by Kurt Sugg and owned by the Colt N Filly Stable and Johnny Yoder.

Two-year-old trotting filly Next Woman Up, trained and driven by Charlie Myrick and owned by Second Chance Stable, won the faster division of two in 2:06.4. Party Upfront, trained and driven by Kurt Sugg crossed the wire first in 2:07.3 in the other division.

Kurt Sugg, like a parrot, kept repeating himself, winning the 2-year-old colt trot wire-to-wire in 2:03.4 with Haul N Dash. Kurt trains the son of Dontyouforgetit for Rebecca Sugg, Johnny Yoder and Bryan Hartzler.

The Kurt Sugg show stepped into the winner’s circle with the 3-year-old filly pacer Da Vinci Artist for her sixth win in a row. Scoring wire-to-wire by 15 lengths in 1:59.1, this daughter of Art Official is owned by Robert Corbin and is dominating the county fairs.

Trainer Scott Cox also showed up with his super hero cape on. His trainees won the fastest division of the 3-year-old filly trot with Kash’s Legacy, both divisions of the 3-year-old colt trot with Charleston Hall and Goldfinger and also threw in McSpidey, the 3-year-old colt pacer, for a 1:59.4 victory.

Jason Thompson and Ryan Stahl split the driving wins on the Scott Cox horses.

Kash’s Legacy is owned by Wayne Zollars, Charleston Hall by Larry Riffe, Goldfinger by Parent Racing Stable and G. Peters and McSpidey by Scott Cox Stables.

Diva Dejarmbro, trained by Sam Schillachi, driven by Josh Kash, and owned by Purple Haze Stable, won the other division for the 3-year-old trotting fillies.

The Lake County fair personnel for harness racing, keeping with tradition, provided a nice meal for the horsemen and the delicious ear corn that they are pretty famous for. A job well done and much appreciated, especially to Bob and Rob Sidley.