All-age records broken at Erie (PA) County Fair

WATTSBURG PA – The greatest-ever meet of harness racing at the Erie (PA) County Fair, and one of the best meets anywhere in Pennsylvania fair harness racing over the last couple of decades, took place on Tuesday and Wednesday in this northwest Pennsylvania town. On Tuesday, the all-age track record for pacers was broken – by a two-year-old; on Wednesday, given over to sophomores, that newly-minted all-age pacing mark was duplicated, and the track's all-time trotting standard, first established 29 years ago, was also equaled.

Regular readers of this column know that the two-year-old going the monster mile was Venier Hanover, the Well Said-Valmctorian gelding who went fractions of 29.3, 59.2, and 1:29.3 en route to completing his mile in 2:00.1, a clocking which knocked 2/5 of a second off of the 2013 effort of the sophomore filly Shesalilfireball, and also annihilated the track's former 2PC mark of 2:03 (Twilight Artist, 2010). "Smilin'" Dave Brickell, also the trainer and co-owner of the wunderkind with Mitchell York, was as usual in the sulky, with Venier garnering his fifth track record at the fairs (no other horse would have more than one until exactly 24 hours later – more on that in a bit). Venier Hanover's mark is now 9-8-1-0 at the fairs, and overall he has 10 victories, second in North America among freshmen to the undefeated Ohio baby Carmensdaleyapple, who has twelve.

It is said that when Alexander The Great had conquered all of the known world, he sat down and cried because he had no new worlds to conquer. Trainer Ron Burke, who has dominated the North American statistical training scene over the last few years, has found a new world to conquer – his home state's county fairs – and two of his charges were the sophomores who tied all-age track records at Wattsburg on Wednesday.

Midway Island had made his fair debut last week by rewriting the Meadville all-age standard to 1:58, and this week he tied Venier Hanover's 2:00.1 local record, as noted exactly 24 hours after his predecessor (they both came in the eighth race of a card that started at 11 a.m.) Chris Shaw handled Midway Island, an altered son of Somebeachsomewhere, in a mile with fractions of 30.1, 1:01.2, and 1:31.1, with a sprint home in 29 to get a tie on the top line of the pacing column as well as reduce the 3PC local record of 2:01 previously first set by Straight Character in 2010 and then equaled by Royaltyhasarrived five years later.

Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Knox Services Inc., and David Wills are the owners of Midway Island, and this quartet also owns the Yankee Glide gelding New Heaven, who equaled the Wattsburg all-age trotting mark of 2:04 first set by Smokey Crown in 1988 and then finally tied by Major Matter last year, and also their shared divisional track record. New Heaven's record mile came with fractions of 30, 1:01.2, and 1:32.4, and it left him undefeated after four starts on the cotton candy circuit. Chris Shaw again had the sulky duty for trainer Burke.

One other three-year-old worth mentioning is the Dragon Again filly Camera Lady, last year's winningest two-year-old in all of North America, and currently on a skein of five wins in her last six starts after a sharp brush down the backstretch put her in front and in position to carry out a 2:03.1 effort. Camera Lady is a stablemate of Venier Hanover, with Dave Brickell training, driving, and co-owning with Mitchell York on this solid pacer as well.

Chris Shaw had three wins on Tuesday and then five on Wednesday to make him by f-a-r the leading driver, upping his seasonlong fair lead over Roger Hammer to 53-47 (despite Hammer having seven earlier in the week at Indiana). Chris's brother Jason conditioned two winners each day to top all Wattsburg trainers, and he narrowed Hammer's lead in the conditioner's contest to 43-31.

No rest for the PA fair horses – the two-year-olds are back in action at Stoneboro on Thursday, while three-year-olds will get their final start on the western part of the PA fair circuit on Labor Day Monday. From there, the circuit comes east for its final seasonal stops at York, Gratz, and Bloomsburg.

FINISHING LINES – There was a walkover in one of Tuesday's races, and after the information about the race was given by the announcer, twenty seconds later a very loud voice came from the grandstand: "CAN YOU GIVE US THE TOP-TO-BOTTOM ORDER OF FINISH AGAIN?"

***PLEASE NOTE: We did not have a photographer at remote Wattsburg. The art attached is the photo finish of Venier Hanover completing his historic 2:00.1 mile on Tuesday, as well as photos of Venier and Midway Island winning at Meadville. New Heaven had been winning, but before Wattsburg not in spectacular fashion, so we have no photograph of him. We are sorry that this is the best we can do.

Publicity Office, Pennsylvania Fair Harness Horsemen's Association