by Thom Pye, for the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association

Upper Sandusky, OH — The Ohio Fair Racing Conference youngsters were behind the gate at the 166th Wyandot County Fair in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, on Wednesday (Sept. 13) and an evening of cool temperatures and a light rain did not dampen their efforts.

As the Fair season comes toward its finale, the divisional leaders are going head-to-head and racing is at its purest and finest.

In the first $3,655 OFRC 2-year-old filly pace division, Steven Sexton’s Dragon Damsel (Dragon Again) and Dan Noble upended 1-5 favorite Connies Desire (Pierce Henry) in a quick 1:59.2 by four.

The second half of the daily double produced a pleasant surprise for some of the bettors in the $3,530 OFRC 2-year-old filly trot when the Scott Mogan trained and driven Manofmanymissions lass Lunetta popped her first win of the year by outstepping her competition in 2:10.1h and paid a hefty $82.80 to win.

The $4,964 OFRC 3-year-old filly pace showed that the track wasn’t that off as Ryan Stahl took Clyde Perfect’s Zoe Ellasen to the wire by four in 1:57.2h and let us know just why the daughter of Santanna Blue Chip has earned more than $190,000 in her two years of Ohio racing.

Hunter Myers clipped off another fast mile with Don Tiger’s Eden’s Lucky Charm in 2:00.4h in the $3,655 OFRC second division for 2-year-olds as the Mike Conklin-trained Big Bad John filly paced a last panel in :28.1 to best her foes.

Bugs MVP with Cameron McCown trotted a mile in 2:06.4h in their $3,695 OFRC stake as the Chris Beaver-conditioned My MVP miss made it her sixth win in a row.

And it was the slimmest of noses that separated the $4,889 OFRC second 3-year-old division as Dan Noble took command at the start with Ron Steck’s pupil Hula Shuffle and shuffled all the way to the wire in 1:59.2h as they topped Ryan Stahl and The Lady Vanishes.

Noble would have his third win on the card with the Chris Beaver-trained Dekeyser as the 3-year-old trotted off by himself in 2:01h with a last quarter in :28.1 and would win by 11 open lengths in his $4,664 OFRC stake. The impressive Dejarmbro colt now has 12 wins in his 20 2017 starts.

But Talkaboutaqueen, Jayme Laing’s 2-year-old, tipped the canoe in the $3,655 OFRC third division when the Jayne Weller-trained/Jay Weller-driven Oaks Enforcer filly win easily in 2:01.3h and paid an eye-opening $54.40 to win.

In the 13th and final race of the evening, the Robert H. Brown Memorial Signature Series Trot second division, Jeff Nisonger sent United Bi — Robert Beachy’s 4-year-old gelding by Manofmanymissions — down the road as the Ed Zubkoff Jr. trainee came within a tick of the all-time track trotting record when he won by 11 in 1:59.3h.

Wyandot concludes its 2017 racing program Thursday (Sept. 14) with a 6 p.m. post time.