Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes rules allow for a set of these races at every fair applying and qualifying, along with five “two-day Sire Stakes events” away from the actual fair dates. The Wayne County Fairgrounds in the northeastern Pennsylvania city of Honesdale has harnessed both possibilities together, with the two-day meet having been held this past Saturday and Sunday, and the fair event to be held this Wednesday and Thursday.
Sunday was for the three-year-olds, and the big story continued to be the speed of Buchannon Hanover, an Always B Miki colt who won in 2:00 for the fastest time of the meet and also his fourth win in 2:00 or less on the twice-around circuit – as many as all other horses combined, with no other horse having more than one such credit. Buchannon Hanover was driven and is trained by Todd Schadel, who has been Buchannon’s human parallel at the fairs thus far, and owned by Todd and his wife Christine.
On the pacing filly side, Bettor Strait N Up was both last year’s leading point-winner during the fair season and the winner of her Fair Championship, and so far she has given solid indication that she would like to earn those distinctions again at three. Her 2:02.2 win gives the daughter of Betting Line four victories and two seconds in six fair starts for the ownership team of trainer Linda and driver Tony Schadel.
Todd Schadel also had two headliners on the trot among the sophomores: the Explosive Matter miss Heart Matters, first three-year-old to reach five fair wins for the Schadels and Rick and Regina Beinhauer after a 2:06.2 win, and Big Ben Hanover, the Andover Hall colt the fastest trotter of this meet in 2:03.3.
On Saturday, the two-year-old Betting Line-Goldies Bad Girl filly Rambling Ruby, at that point the only PA Fairs competitor to reach five wins, made it six triumphs on the cotton candy circuit after a 2:02.4 success for Andy Miller Stable Inc., Jean Goehlen, and Bert Hochsprung. Todd Schadel is the filly’s trainer/driver.
Fastest two-year-old overall was another offspring of Betting Line, the gelding Rusty Beach (dam Parlee Beach), who broke his maiden in very fine fashion with a 2:01.1 victory. Trainer Richard Dunn is also the co-owner of Rusty Beach with MBC Stables LLC, and Eric Neal had the winning catch-drive behind the promising youngster.
No points for guessing the short meet’s top driver and trainer. Tony Schadel had three sulky successes and Dave Brickell two; doubling as trainers were Syl King Jr., Linda Schadel, and Mitchell York – who would follow his Honesdale Sunday victory in seven and a half hours with Annapolis Hanover, who won a division of a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes pari-mutuel division at Pocono. Annapolis Hanover, a Stay Hungry-All Night Long gelding, went into that race off a track record 1:59.1 for baby pacing colts at Silver Springs Ranch 10 days earlier.
The Fair Circuit will conduct midweek racing at two fairgrounds about as far apart from each other as you can go and stay within Pennsylvania – 347 miles. The Greene County Fair in Waynesburg will have racing on Tuesday and Wednesday at noon, while the trotters and pacers return to Honesdale for their fair meet, with racing on Wednesday at 4 p.m. and on Thursday at noon.
(Pennsylvania Fair Harness Horsemen’s Association, Meadows Standardbred Owners Association, and Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association)