Elizabeth Snyder notched her first career driving victory at Meadville on Saturday (Aug. 18), getting the job done in her career debut aboard Golden Magic in a walkover on day one of the two-day fair circuit stop.
The 21-year-old Snyder was not originally scheduled to drive Golden Magic in Saturday’s last race, but the trainer (and her father) Doug Snyder put her up for her first drive. Elizabeth got the job done with the Always B Miki filly – thus immediately putting her UDR at 1.000.
International Moni – Nightflix Hanover filly H Moni Winner, who lowered the Meadville record for freshman trotting fillies to 2:03.2 from A Little Laid Back’s 2015 standard of 2:04.1. Chris Shaw sat behind the filly for the first time in a race during Saturday’s two-year-old action, and he and H Moni Hanover bonded well right away for trainer Dana Kahrig and owner Joseph Burkholder.
The three-year-olds came out for Sunday’s (Aug. 19) racing, and in the day’s very first race the Betting Line filly Showboat Hanover, the 2023 Fair Championship winner, smashed the track record of 2:00.3 (held by Unbeamlieveable and Camera Lady) for her pacing group, touring the Meadville twicearound in 1:59 for the fastest time of the meet. Trainer/driver Todd Schadel is also co-owner of Showboat Hanover with wife Christine and Caitlin Solt.
The blue and white colours of Schadel were back out in force in the three-year-old filly trot, winning one of the “A” sections and both of the “B”s. The International Moni filly Jakarta Hanover, a winner of a division of the Lady Suffolk Trot at Freehold, visited the fairs and promptly hung up that 2:01.1 clocking for the ownership of Todd Schadel and Jim Simpson.
Drivers Eric Neal and Chris Shaw had four winners each, and trainer Tom Loughry Jr. harnessed three successful horses.
After eight cards in eight days, even the Pennsylvania Fair Circuit now gets to take a rest. A very short rest – they’ll be drawing Tuesday for racing at Indiana, Pa. on Thursday and Friday, with both cards slated to start at 2 p.m.
(Pennsylvania Fair Harness Horsemen’s Association, Meadows Standardbred Owners Association, and Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association partnership)