BLOOMSBURG PA – A day after the final set of Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes for two-year-olds had to be cancelled due to track conditions, the last Sire Stakes card for the three-year-olds was held Wednesday in this northeast Pennsylvania town, with the Bloomsburg activity giving harness racing fans of the twicearound circuit some insight as to what they may see – and not see — on the $200,000 Pennsylvania Fair Championship Night at The Meadows on Saturday, October 8.
Tuesday’s rainout could potentially compromise the chances of some fast freshmen who are “on the bubble” for making the Championship based on pointstandings, while a win at Bloomsburg would have raised their chances some. One example would be the baby trotter Vegas Chuck – he was 5 for 5 on the fair circuit, and a win at Bloomsburg, where he was declared in, would have put him in his division’s top ten; now, he sits 13th, as all 12 horses above him in the standings were also in to go at Bloomsburg, and he’ll need quite a few defections to reach the Championship.
For the most part, Wednesday’s winners among three-year-olds confirmed the sharpness of the divisional leaders. The three-year-old colt pacing division, for example, saw its two winningest and fastest performers take their divisions, the faster going to Dragon Strikes, an Art Official colt who notched his eighth fair win and fourth 2:00 mile on the circuit with a 1:58.2 score, going three-wide at the half en route to an eight length win for driver Brady Brown, trainer Mike Gillock, and owner Bob Key.
The other division went to the Western Terror gelding Star Of Terror, who has five 2:00 miles on the Ferris wheel circuit, but didn’t add one at Bloomsburg, although the speed in his 2:00.3 victory came at the end, when he rocketed home in 27.3 to win for the 11th time at the fairs for driver Chris Shaw, who had four wins on the day, trainer Jason Shaw, and Fortunate One LLC.
In the featured division of the sophomore filly pace, the Shaws struck again, with the Moon Beam filly Unbeamlieveable taking advantage of drawing the rail against archrival Vorst’s drawing PP4, going wire-to-wire in 2:02, last half 58, last quarter 28.4. Chris and Jason Shaw are also the team behind this filly, who is owned by Jason’s son Mason, and she closes out her remarkable fair career with a 27-22-4-0 slate, with the ninth of her year here defeating Vorst, who came in to the race with four straight victories, three 2:00 miles, and two track records. At least Vorst’s second moved her up to ninth place in the unofficial pointstandings (the Pennsylvania Commission could have the officials totals by the time you read this).
The spotlight division of the colt trotters saw the top five divisional pointleaders meet, with the victory going to the red-hot SJ’s Caviar gelding Shady McCoy, who now has three straight wins and triumphs in five of his last six fair outings after a 28.2 last panel propelled him to victory in 2:00.3 for trainer/driver Dave Wade, co-owner with Delores Wade.
Second to Shady McCoy was defending Fair Champion Major Matter; his counterpart on the female side, the Explosive Matter miss Waterview Hanover, also won Wednesday on the engine, holding on by a nose against the late-charging Catch The Bouquet after a mid-race battle which included the fastest half of the day, trot or pace, at 58.3. Waterview Hanover won for the third straight time, with Chris Shaw again in the perch behind a winner, this time for trainer Bill Daugherty Jr. and owner Susan Daugherty.
Since Bloomsburg has only a three-day slot for racing, some of these sophomores will be right back at work, weather permitting, Thursday morning, competing in the time-honored Bloomsburg Stakes; the two-year-old Bloomsburg Stakes are also on this card, hopefully giving the freshmen who were rained out Tuesday a chance to stay sharp on their “March to The Meadows” and their $25,000 divisional Championships.
Publicity Office, Pennsylvania Fair Harness Horsemen’s Association