by Suzanne D’Ambrose

Allentown, NJ — On Sunday (July 15) at the Freedom Fest State Fair in New Jersey, two retired Standardbreds were invited to participate in a horse exhibition for the fair attendees.

Tracy Tarantino and her pacer, Southern Walton, and Suzanne D’Ambrose and her trotter, Independent Act, had mounted color guard duties with two American flags at the opening ceremonies.

Suzanne D’Ambrose photo

Independent Act meets Abbey Scoles at the Freedom Fest State Fair.

After the Star Spangled Banner played, and the fair continued, families had a meet and greet with both Standardbreds and their owners. The horses and their owners spent a few hours meeting fair attendees of all ages that were at Freedom Fest Fair and everyone enjoyed meeting the retired Standardbreds. Children received the USTA publication, Standardbred Star, a children’s interactive book on harness racing and Standardbreds.

The adults learned more about harness racing during the meet and greet, and were informed that New Jersey has two harness racing tracks that are fun for the family.

Since the Meadowlands is currently open for live racing, many families were very interested in bringing the family back to the track for racing in the summer evenings.

A few families at the fair were from southern New Jersey and now have Harrah’s Philadelphia on their to do list, after meeting the Standardbreds.

Meeting retired Standardbreds and learning more about harness racing at the same time is a perfect combination.