Two-year-olds and females (plus Sam Beegle) took the lion’s share of the spotlight during the two-day Fair Sire Stakes meet at Bedford in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, July 30 and Wednesday, July 31, with the freshman divisions all getting fair season’s records and the “girls” going faster than the "boys" in all four of the “A” Fair Sire Stakes classifications.
Top equine honours for the meet went to the Cantab Hall-Cocktail Attire two-year-old trotting miss Classy Cocktail, a homebred racing for trainer/driver Tony Schadel and his wife Linda, as she toured the fairgrounds oval in 2:00.3, a track record and only two-fifths off the all-time PA fairs standard for age, sex and gait, set by Quarantina at Gratz in 2022. Tony Schadel also won with Just A Sheila to sweep the “A” races in that sector.
Sam Beegle, who earned his 1,000th career win with Ginger Tree Millie in the first race of the meet at his hometown track, as chronicled elsewhere Tuesday, almost had a full sweep of the two-year-old pacing filly action. In the race after “Millie” set the 2:00.1 division fair mark, Ginger Tree Jean would miss by a neck in the other “A” cut; later Ginger Tree Rosie would win the “B” division.
Trainer/driver Todd Schadel took two of the three divisions of the main two-year-old colt trot with Andovers Hotrod (equalling his own season’s record of 2:03.4) and Pelham Parkway, but in the division he lost, his Born Silly, the only horse at the meet with a chance to get to five “A” fair victories, made a break at the start, rallying from last and over 20 lengths down at the quarter to come back for a third-placed-second finish behind victorious Friendly Cantab.
The baby pacing colts garnered a measure of respect – in the B division, as the Captain Crunch-Bettorhaveanother colt Bettor Not became the fastest freshman of the year at the fairs with a 1:58.4 win for trainer/driver Todd Schadel, co-owner with wife Christine
The females were still in the ascendancy during Wednesday’s racing for three-year-olds, as the Betting Line miss Adroit Hanover paced in 1:57.4, fastest mile of the meet, to win by a nose over Chatty Vanessa for driver Steve Schoeffel and trainer Susan Callihan, the latter co-owner with Gregory Callihan and Nichole Buchleitner.
The colts section did generate the other 2:00 mile of the meet with the If I Can Dream gelding Dry Ridge Erie home first in 1:58.2 for driver Shawn Johnston, trainer Gary Johnston and owner Randy Ringer to become the first fair horse to post three 2:00 miles this year.
The speed sweep was completed by the Father Patrick miss Noelles Alibi, a winner in 2:00.3, quicker than any colt, for driver Eric Neal, trainer Bill Daugherty Jr., and owner Susan Daugherty.
Todd Schadel again won both meet horsemen’s titles, but barely – his four driving wins beat out Shawn Johnston and Steve Schoeffel by one, and his three training success was also tops by one, with Sam Beegle, Joyce Lineweaver, Tony Schadel and Steve Schoeffel just in behind.
The draw is complete and ready to go at the next stop on the PA Fair Circuit, the two-day meet at Honesdale in the northeast corner of the state. Racing will be held at Honesdale on Friday and Saturday at 1 p.m., and then the track comes right back to host its “fair” meet, with start times of 3 p.m. next Wednesday and 1 p.m. on the following Thursday, with free-for-all events on both fair cards.
(Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association, Pennsylvania Fair Harness Horsemen’s Association and Meadows Standardbred Owners Association)