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Chris Shaw stated his intentions early when he sent Midway Island to the quarter in 28, opening a five-length lead, then had doubled his lead by the half with a 27.2 second quarter, putting him at the midmarker in 55.2. The pair went on in 28.2 to get to the 1:23.4 ¾-pole 15 lengths ahead, then continued on to post a 13¼-length victory in the record clocking, taking down the previous all-time Keystone State fair standard, a 1:54 mile posted by four-year-old Alastor Hanover right at this track, ten years minus three days ago. Ironically, the name replaced as the 3PC local track record holder is also "Alastor Hanover" (1:56.4); the overall 3PC record for PA fairs obviously also fell (Lahaye, 1:55.1, Gratz, 2009).
Midway Island also posted an all-age track record (1:58, Meadville) and tied another (2:00.1, Wattsburg) while posting four 2:00 victories on the cotton candy circuit. Ironically, the sophomore needed this start to guarantee his spot in the Pennsylvania Fair Championships at The Meadows on Saturday, October 7: though being undefeated through his first four fair starts gave him enough points to qualify, the state rules state that a horse must start five times at the fairs, or he can be "bumped" by any entrant with fewer points but the requisite number of starts.
It's a great story – but it's an even better one when you realize that 17 minutes earlier, driver Shaw, trainer Ron Burke (who was 11-for-11 at the fairs this year), and owners Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Knox Services Inc., and David Wills had a horse of theirs post the fastest trotting mile in Bloomsburg history, as the Yankee Glide gelding New Island toured the twicearound in 1:58.3. Despite having to come first-over, New Heaven smoked his last half in 57.4 to win by 5¼ lengths.
The only record New Heaven didn't break was the 1:58.2 all-time Pennsylvania fair mark set by five-year-old Shark Kosmos at Gratz in 2003 (another irony: former pacing recordholder was a Roger Hammer production, as is still-current trotmaster Shark Kosmos). All the other relevant records fell: the local all-age record (3TF T V Star Kosmos, 1:59, 2003); the divisional track record (1:59.4, shared by Giant Checkerboard [1997] and Reputation [2008]); and the Pennsylvania all-fair divisional mark (3TC S J Better Days, 1:58.4, Gratz, 2011).
Ron Burke might have won 11 in a row, but a three-year-old trotting filly went him one better – the Donato Hanover miss All Set Lets Go, who, after starting her fair season with a third, then ran off 12 consecutive victories, including a 2:01.4 triumph on Saturday for driver Roger Hammer, trainer John McMullen Jr. and his family's McMullen Stable LLC. The filly accumulated 453 points in the fair scoring system – and wrested the all-over #1 spot on this last day of the 2017 circuit.
All Set Lets Go and her pacing counterpart Bella Ragaza has started the day even with 418 points, but Bella Ragaza couldn't quite get to Victory Lane, finishing second and coming up 10 points shy (while leading his division). Her conqueror here was no fluky winner – it was the Dragon Again filly Camera Lady, last year's winningest two-year-old in North America with 15, and in tremendous form going to her Championship battle with Bella Ragaza, with nine fair wins, including her last four trips to the gate. Trainer Dave Brickell, co-owner with Mitchell York, had two fillies in the one-heat event and tapped Chris Shaw to do the driving behind Camera Lady on Saturday (Brickell finished third with Cajun Moonlite).
Moving on to the two-year-old action held Friday, and needing to keep things short after the historic display by the three-year-olds, we'll summarize: "Venier Hanover, fastest Pennsylvania fair freshman ever." The altered son of Well Said-Valmctorian, trained and driven by David Brickell, who is co-owner with Mitchell York ("Team Camera Lady"), had lowered Pennsylvania freshman annals with his 1:56.4 mile at Gratz last week, and then came back five days later to lower that mark to 1:56.1, also busting past the 1:57 local record co-held by Dixie Pride and Shu Hanover (both in 2003). Venier Hanover ended his 2017 fairs season with a 12-11-1-0 record, an all-age 2:00.1 track record at Wattsburg (tied by Midway Island the next day), eight divisional track records, seven miles in 2:00 or less, and the most points acquired by freshmen at 410.
Chris Shaw saw his seasonlong driving victory total dwindle to 60-59 after Friday's action and a Roger Hammer quadruple to his single victory, but four wins on Saturday to Hammer's double gave the 2017 driving title to Shaw by a 64-61 title. Hammer, who was top driver for the meet with six, also was leading trainer at Bloomsburg with four wins and finished his runaway season's training title with 55 harnessed victorious chargers, far ahead of Todd Schadel and Jason Shaw, who dead-heated for second with 32.
The PFHHA and PHHA want to thank Bloomsburg Superintendent of Horse Racing John Brokenshire for his excellent stewardship in this, his first year of charge of the racing at "Blom." A longtime equine enthusiast, Brokenshire's major contribution may have been persuading the Bloomsburg fair board to conduct its harness racing at the start of the fair, rather than in mid-fair, after tractor pulls and whatnot made the racing surface subpar and open to rainouts. No track mark had been set at Bloomsburg since 2008 – it's not hard to see what a "perfect" Bloomsburg surface can mean to quality harness racing, and the track today was in great shape largely through Brokenshire's leadership.
Publicity Office, Pennsylvania Fair Harness Horsemen's Association
