by Jeff Zidek, information specialist, Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission

Washington, PA — “If you build it, they will come,” was a classic line from the movie Field Of Dreams. This week, the Pennsylvania Fair Circuit will borrow from that line of thinking — ”If you offer it, he will come.”

On Wednesday (August 11) at the Wayne County Fairgrounds, “it” is a $500 bonus for a new track record. “He” is world champion and Hambletonian winner Vivid Photo.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

2005 Hambletonian champion Vivid Photo will race on Wednesday at the Wayne County Fairgrounds.

Roger Hammer, trainer and co-owner of the now 8-year-old trotter, is bringing the superstar to Honesdale, Pa., to compete in the Free For All Trot, which carries a purse of $650. If Vivid Photo wins, he will add $325 in purse money to his career bankroll, which currently stands at more than $3.1 million, which puts him in the top 10 all-time in the history of harness racing. He will also add a $500 bonus payment from the fair board if he breaks the existing track record for trotters, 2:03.1, co-held by Keystone Americus (2004) and BS Surgin Don (2009), both of which were driven by Hammer. Vivid Photo’s lifetime best is nearly 13 seconds faster, at 1:50.2. This season he has won once, in 1:56.

Vivid Photo’s visit to the Wayne County Fairgrounds will not be his first time on the Pennsylvania Fair Circuit. He made his career debut more than six years ago, on June 12, 2004, at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds in Columbia County, where he was a winner in 2:10.1 — the first of his 41 career victories.

None of those wins was bigger than his triumph in the 2005 Hambletonian, the most prestigious race in the sport, held at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. Hammer, who owns the horse along with fellow trainer/driver Todd Schadel from Gratz, Pa., was in the bike behind Vivid Photo for his upset Hambletonian win.

Vivid Photo appears to be a lock to win his Free For All Trot on Wednesday, where he has drawn post one in a six horse field, the eighth race on the 4 p.m. card.

Three races before Vivid Photo takes to the track, a $1,150 Free For All Pace is slated, and the race has drawn the fastest horse ever on the Pennsylvania Fair Circuit. The Wayne County Fair Board is thus poised to hand out a second $500 bonus to Hammer, because the main contender in that field, Alastor Hanover, is also a member of his barn. Alastor Hanover has drawn post three in a six-horse field.

In September of 2007, Alastor Hanover and Hammer won a Free For All pace at the Bloomsburg Fair in 1:54, the fastest mile ever in the more than 100-plus year history of racing at the Commonwealth’s fairs. Alastor Hanover also set the track record that year at the York Fairgrounds, pacing in 1:55.3, and returned to Bloomsburg in 2008, winning in 1:54.1.

Overall, Alastor Hanover was won 27 races in his career, holding a mark of 1:50.1, with earnings of more than $728,000. On Wednesday, he will be aiming for the track’s pacing record of 1:59.4, set by KT Beaner back in 2003.

Hammer, 64, has long been known as the “King of Pennsylvania Fairs.” He has amassed just under $20 million in career earnings, with 3,611 victories. Six times in his career he has won the national title for driving percentage, and so far in 2010 he leads the PA Fairs with 42 driving wins and 33 training victories.

Jeff Firmstone, director of racing at the Honesdale half-mile oval, says, “This just goes to show you that Roger Hammer knows what the fair circuit means to Pennsylvania racing. The fair board is being generous by offering these bonuses for new track records, and Roger is showing his generosity by bringing these two world-class horses for our fans to see. It will make for a great Wednesday of racing.

“It reminds me of the barnstorming that Dan Patch did a hundred years ago. He was racing, but it was truly a battle against the clock. This is one of the better things to ever happen here at our track. I am just thrilled about it.”