PA Fairs close out season at Bloomsburg

BLOOMSBURG, PA – The final stop of the 2021 Pennsylvania Fair circuit, at the Bloomsburg Fair in this northeast Pennsylvania town, had an all-too familiar theme on opening day Friday – the two-year-old harness racing was washed out. But then the three-year-olds got to go on Saturday, and three of them achieved their tenth victories, most on the circuit.

(We note here that early next week that there will be a release listing the trophy blanket winners for being top point winners in their divisions, after figures are checked with the Harness Bureau of the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission, the final authority on tallies, so no mention of blanket winners will appear in this summary of the Bloomsburg racing.)

Todd Schadel was the trainer of all three of the ten-time winners. The Bar Hopping colt Top Me Off finished his fair season undefeated in ten trips behind the starting gate with a 2:01.3 victory for Todd and Christine Schadel and Rick and Regina Beinhauer. The fastest trotter of all-time at a Pennsylvania fair by virtue of his 1:57.1 win at Gratz, the 2020 Fair Championship winner is now also tied for winningest horse in all of North America with fifteen successes.

Terry A Hanover, an Artspeak colt who was also a 2020 Championship winner, posted his seventh magic mile in his 10th fair win, a 2:00 victory, to lead in quantity of speed production on the season. Christine Schadel owns the sturdy colt with Caitlin Solt.

Todd Schadel also drove both of those winners this summer; he entrusted most of the driving of the Cantab Hall filly Cheesy Hanover to his son Cody, and the 19-year-old provisional driver did very nicely in guiding her to the majority of her season-ending ten-race winning streak. Cody’s mother and father own the talented filly, who missed just a nose in her pari-mutuel Sire Stakes consolation and who won at Bloomsburg in 2:03.1.

The sophomore pacing filly race produced the fastest mile of the Bloomsburg meet, 1:59.4, which was posted by the Sweet Lou filly Ginger Tree Liz, who went in 1:59.4 in defeating Tiamogonedancen, a 2020 champion who had the fastest mile of the year at the fairs, a 1:55.2 win at Bedford. Ginger Tree Liz won both of her 2021 fair starts for trainer/driver Sam Beegle, who is part of her ownership with Ginger Tree Ventures, Double D Racing Stable, and Reber-Chasen Stable.

As for the two-year-olds: they lost five chances to race due to weather (the three-year-olds lost two and part of another), and optimistically it can be thought that the freshmen may be that much fresher for the $25,000 Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes Championships, all eight of which are to be raced during a 4:00 p.m. card at The Meadows on Friday, October 8.

The information on the fair point winners blankets, and other statistics, will be in the release early this coming week.

From the PHHA, MSOA and the PFHHA Partnership