A two-day meet of harness racing held in conjunction with the Greene County Fair in this southwestern Pennsylvania town, the home of Dave Palone, was completed Wednesday, with many of the circuit’s top performers during the first half of the year continuing their winning ways.
The fastest mile of the meet went again to the Western Terror sophomore gelding Royaltyhasarrived, who has two of the circuit’s seven 2:00 miles to date, including the 1:58.1 all-age mark at Hughesville. At Waynesburg, only 2:02.1 was required for “Royalty” to be crowned for the sixth successive time at the Keystone twice-arounds, with a :29.2 final quarter in the mile for driver Brady Brown, trainer Steve Schoeffel, and owners Virginia and Kathy Schoeffel and Michael Munn.
It hardly seems possible that it has been 42 years since Starlark Hanover was named North American champion two-year-old trotter of the year, colt or filly (no separate vote in those days), but her trainer/driver Dave Wade is still going strong, winning the fastest trot of the meet with the Andover Hall gelding Simeon, reporting home first in 2:05.3 for owners Wade, Jerry Brittingham, William Peel III, and Delores Wade. Simeon, who in his last start equalled the all-age trot mark at Clearfield at 2:02, joined with Silver Sierra (a catch-drive from Roger Hammer) to give Wade a sweep of the three-year-old trotting colt action at Waynesburg, and the previous day Wade had won in the baby trotting colt action with his Shady McCoy as well.
Team Shaw – consisting of three-year-old owner Mason, trainer/father Jason, and driver/uncle Chris – bounced back from a recent mini-slump with five winners to lead the short meet in those categories.
Especially also worth mention among many other fine performers, both equine and human, is the sophomore pacing filly Betterthanrevenge, now undefeated in five fair starts for trainer/driver Harold Brocklehurst, and in her Waynesburg win defeating the Shaws’ Tropical Terror, 2014’s winningest freshman in North America.
Three hours after the close of the Waynesburg meet, the 10th of the summer’s 20 PA stops, the second half of the year was supposed to open 358 miles northeast at the Wayne County Fair in Honesdale (where the aforementioned Hammer had six in to go). But bad luck finally caught up to the fair circuit and, after no cancellations since June 28, the racing had to be scrubbed. Thursday brings the promise of better weather, two-year-olds, and a free-for-all trot at Honesdale, with the action starting at 1 p.m.
(PA Fair Harness Horsemen’s Association)