WASHINGTON, PA, Oct. 8, 2015 — It reaches from Bloomsburg in the east to Wattsburg and Meadville in the northwest to Waynesburg and Washington in the southwest. It's the Pennsylvania Fairs circuit, a pillar of harness racing in the Commonwealth that helps promote and perpetuate the sport even as it provides employment and entertainment for thousands.
The 2015 season of the PA Fairs culminates Saturday, Oct. 10 at The Meadows Racetrack & Casino, when the top point-earners on the 20-stop circuit compete for $200,000 in purses over eight championship races. The Meadows and the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association (MSOA) will create a county fair-like atmosphere for the event by offering a variety of family-oriented activities, including a bounce house for kids, sulky rides for all and the chance to get up close and personal with a Standardbred.
"County fair racing is important to our state and our horsemen," said Kevin Decker, director of racing for The Meadows. "We are delighted to host the fair championships each year to show our appreciation for the contribution fairs racing makes to our sport."
First post on fair championships night is 6:55 PM.
Mingling of Generations
One reason for the ongoing popularity of Pennsylvania fairs harness racing is the earnings opportunity it provides. Typically, PA Fairs Sires Stakes for 2- and 3-year-olds offer purses of about $5,000. While that's only a fraction of the sires stake purses at the state's three pari-mutuel tracks, there are so many fair stakes that it's not uncommon for horses to turn profits for their owners with their fairs winnings alone. Says trainer/driver Steve Schoeffel:
"The fairs are a nice place to race my horses. I can make money with them and teach them how to be racehorses."
Schoeffel, of Evans City, has campaigned his horses at The Meadows and PA fairs for about 30 years and uses the Butler County Fairgrounds as his base of operations. This year at the fairs, Schoeffel won 30 races as a trainer, 14 as a driver.
Just as important as the cash is the mingling of generations on the fairs circuit, a vehicle for the exchange of information and experience across age groups. That sort of pollination, if you will, is a key factor in the perpetuation of Pennsylvania harness racing.
Stars in many sports retire in their late 30s, but that's hardly true in harness racing. This year's leading trainer (81 wins) and driver (87 wins), as he's been so many times, is 69-year-old Roger Hammer, known as the "King of the Fairs," who collected his 4,000th career victory last May at The Meadows. Those accomplishments notwithstanding, in any fairs stake, Hammer may find himself battling such younger rivals as Schoeffel, 45, and the Johnston brothers, Aaron and Shawn, whose combined age is 47.
Schoeffel has turned over many of his driving responsibilities to a protege, 22-year-old Brady Brown, who responded by logging 45 wins — including 10 straight with Schoeffel's top horse, Royaltyhasarrived — to rank fourth in the standings.
"It's Brady's time; he's been waiting a long time to get started," Schoeffel says. "We turned him loose on all the good ones this year."
Families Working & Prospering Together
Finally, PA Fairs give families the chance to work and prosper together. Consider the Shaws, where Jason trains 'em (47 wins), his brother Chris drives 'em (61 wins), and Jason's 3-year-old son Mason owns many of them. Mason's ownership might mean little to him now, but as he grows and stays close to harness racing, he'll have ready-made entre to the business.
Much the same is true of the Johnstons who, as Schoeffel, reside in Evans City and train at the Butler County Fairgrounds. The brothers got involved in harness racing through their father, trainer Gary Johnston, and their grandfather, Charles Moses, who bought Shawn his first horse. That mare, Tremor Hanover, is approaching $600,000 in career earnings, but Shawn Johnston wouldn't think of giving up fairs racing to concentrate on more lucrative raceway purses.
"I won in my first race at the fairs when I was 17 or 18, and I've loved fair racing since then," he said. "You're always with the same group of people, although we do try to get newcomers involved. Everyone's family at the fairs."
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Following the fairs championships, The Meadows will take a nearly three-week break from live racing to prepare for its fall-winter meeting. Live racing returns Friday, Oct. 30, when the card begins at 12:55 PM, with a special program set for Saturday, Oct. 31, first post 11:25 AM. Those programs will complement the track's simulcast presentation of the two-day Thoroughbred Breeders Cup, always a fan favorite.
The Meadows Racetrack & Casino