DAYTON PA – The 2017 Pennsylvania fair schedule of harness racing gets underway this weekend at the Dayton Fairgrounds in Armstrong County, just northeast of Pittsburgh. Two-year-olds will take to the track at high noon on Saturday, while on Sunday at the same time a full slate of three-year-olds will be racing.
This year the Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes will feature an improved yet simplified purse structure, thanks to the work of the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen Association (PHHA) and the Standardbred Breeders Association of Pennsylvania (SBAPA), with Sam Beegle and Jim Simpson heading the respective associations' efforts.
The Fair Sire Stakes will be divided into "A" and "B" divisions. For the "A" cuts, the purse will be $7500 plus the $75 starting fees if there is one division, $5000+ each if two divisions, and $3750+ each if three or more divisions. The "B" Sire Stakes were formed to place emphasis on the homegrown state agricultural project: while the former Quaker State Series allowed eligibility for "PA-sired OR wholly PA-owned" horses, being a Sire Stakes of course now necessitates the animal being sired by a state stallion. There will be a purse of $2500 plus starting fees for however many "B" divisions are needed.
At this stage of the season, of course, the two-year-olds are getting the final touches on their racing education, and indeed only one of the babies in Saturday's 12 races has so much as made a pari-mutuel start. But what a start that was: Venier Hanover won a maiden contest at The Meadows in 1:54, following up on a 1:55.2 first charted line qualifier. The gelding certainly has this kind of ability in his pedigree: his third dam is Oxford Mary Ann, the dam of Cambest, whose 1:46.1 time trial in 1993 was eclipsed only last year by a tick by Always B Miki at Lexington.
Among the three-year-olds, trotter Gee Wizz George and pacer Marvalous Artist, who set the Dayton colt divisional standards at two last season, will both be in action Sunday, whose card will also feature a dozen races. Also among the entrants are Camera Lady (a Dave Brickell stablemate of Venier Hanover), the winningest two-year-old in all of North America last year with 15 trips to Victory Lane for the pacing filly, and Gemalous, who conquered the "Lady" in their Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes Championship.
Roger Hammer and Team Shaw (driver Chris and trainer/brother Jason), who have been the big guns along the Keystone fair circuit the last couple of years, both will send out a healthy contingent of hopefuls, looking to maintain their lofty perches atop the horsemen's win columns.
Publicity Office, Pennsylvania Fair Harness Horsemen's Association