from the PA Fair Harness Horsemen’s Association

Meadville, PA — The Crawford County Fair in this northwest Pennsylvania town opened a two-day meet Monday (Aug. 22), its first in a long, long time without the firm guiding hand of Walter “Boots” Dunn, the legendary local horseman who passed away earlier this year.

After funding for overnight races at the fairs became a part of consolidation measures in state support of harness racing, Boots always made sure that Meadville had overnight events, a practice in which he has been commendably joined by Jeff Firmstone at Honesdale.

Seth Dowling photo

Ruffle Up scored in a track-record time of 1:59.2.

Fittingly, the free-for-all events this year both proudly bear the names “The Dunn Memorial” and on Monday another Pennsylvania fair legend, Roger Hammer, paid a tribute to his longtime circuit-mate by giving the Meadville oval one of the few 2:00 miles it has seen — a 1:59.2 victory with Ruffle Up in the free-for-all pace.

A 5-year-old Real Artist gelding owned, trained, and driven by Hammer, Ruffle Up toured the local half-miler in :30.3, :59 and 1:28.4 before stopping the timer in 1:59.2, breaking the Meadville record for older male pacers set by Vesuvio Grade on Aug. 24, 2009. The all-time local record for the pace is the 1:58.1 turned in by the 3-year-old McAlvin, exactly three years previous (Aug. 22, 2013) to Monday’s mile by Ruffle Up.

The FFA pace was the last race on the Monday card. Hammer also won the opener, and in fact both halves of the Daily Double were won by member of the Bedford (PA) Sports Hall of Fame: Hammer, inducted for harness racing and Sam Beegle, a champion local wrestler and a pretty fair horseman in his own right as well.

After Hammer and the Real Artist gelding Artists Ruffles won in 2:03, his fourth straight win in a campaign where his 1:57 victory at Bedford still stands as the 2016 all-age circuit standard, trainer/driver Beegle edged out Hammer and Marvalous Artist by a neck with the Delmarvalous colt Friendly’s Scooter in 2:03.4 for the Bay Pond Racing Stable.

Next up were the 2-year-old pacing fillies, and that meant it was Camera Lady time. And the Dragon Again filly again delivered, posting her 11th fair victory in an undefeated campaign on the circuit, and her 12th overall win, in 2:05.1 for trainer/driver Dave Brickell, co-owner with Mitchell York.

With the 12 victories, Camera Lady holds these margins over her fellow North American freshmen: three wins more than pacing colt Bigtime So N So, four up on pacing filly Prettyfaceuglyways, and five clear of the top 2-year-old trotters, filly Cinderella’s Dress and gelding Neednorestrictions. She’s tied at 12 wins with the top 3-year-old, the trotting filly My Little Suzie, and only three wins short of the winningest horse in North America in 2016, the trotting gelding Mama Made Me Blue. And Camera Ready didn’t start until June 11.

Brickell and York got a nice bonus in the other division of the filly pace, as their Cajun Moonlite made her breakthrough with a 2:07 win, coming from five lengths down at the stretch call to win by 6-3/4 lengths. At the fairs, Cajun Moonlite had four seconds, four thirds, and two fourths before also getting to be a “Camera Lady.”

On the trot, Brauti Hanover went to the top of her class with five wins at the fairs, the last three in a row, winning in 2:09.3 for Steve Schoeffel, while the gelding Lima Moonshine, now 3-2-1-0 at the fairs, firmed up his position as a major contender in his group by defeating three-time track record-setting Toolbox Tuesday in 2:07.2.

The 3-year-old Fair Sire Stakes horses will be out in full force Tuesday at the Meadville oval, joined by Quaker State events and the Dunn Memorial Free-For-All Trot, with the first of 13 races set for an 11 a.m. start.