On the heels of another strong Ohio Sires Stakes victory last Saturday at Scioto Downs, world champion Charlie May is headed to Darke County Fair in Greenville, Ohio.
At first glance, it seems to be an odd place to see a world record holder, but Charlie May has attended this county fair before and he will make an appearance for fans this Thursday parading one of the divisions of the Parshall Memorial Pace.
The Darke County Fair takes place August 20-28 and will host harness racing three days during the week. The fair has been operating every summer since 1852.
Charlie May raced in the 2020 Parshall Memorial and won the event in 1:55.2, setting a record for two-year-old pacers at the track in Greenville. Not only is it an impressive time for a two-year-old, but his record even beat the fastest three-year-old time of 1:55.3, which was achieved by In Trouble Again in 2019.
Owned and bred by Don Tiger of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, the McArdle-Stipple Hanover gelding is being pointed to the Ohio Sire Stakes Championships on September 5 at Northfield Park, where he made history on August 14 by setting the 1:48.4 world record for three-year-old pacers on a half-mile track in the Carl Milstein Memorial with Brett Miller in the sulky. Charlie May's connections did not make the third sustaining payment to the Pepsi North America Cup, which has eliminations scheduled one day prior to Ohio Super Night.
Steve Carter feels his trainee is in a good place right now and can compete on any track size.
“He’s in really good form right now,” Carter told Trot Insider. “I feel like he’s been in good form for the last two months. I had a sickness going around my barn and he caught it. We gave him three weeks off to get over it and he benefited from that.”
Charlie May had an impressive two-year-old campaign during which he won seven of his nine starts, with two second-place finishes. A 13-time starter so far this year, the defending Ohio champion has earned all six of his sophomore wins in his home state. In addition to proving his talents on the Grand Circuit in the Milstein, he finished a close second in the Messenger Stakes and crossed the wire first in the Meadowlands Pace before being disqualified. Lifetime, he’s earned more than $750,000 in purses.
Carter himself has had a prosperous career as a trainer. He’s trained winners of more than $16.7 million and is approaching 1,900 wins. Carter has done his fair share of driving as well and has more than 2,100 wins as a driver. He’s been around for some time, but Charlie May is at the top of his all-time list.
“He's clearly the best one I’ve ever had,” said Carter. “He’s very low maintenance, knock on wood, but he always performs really well.”