By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
HONESDALE PA – Ante Up Hanover, a five-year-old altered son of Betting Line, won a division of the free-for-all pace at the Honesdale (PA) Fair on Wednesday in 1:56.4, coming within two-fifths of a second of the 16-year-old all-age track mark of Alastor Hanover.
 
Trainer Cody Schadel, who conditions the horse for the owners, father Todd and mother Christine, took the driving assignment as the pacer, a recent 1:51.4 winner at Pocono, won off by himself. A Fair Sire Stakes winner at Honesdale at two, Ante Up Hanover now has career earnings of $205,764.
 
Besides Alastor Hanover’s, there are two other pacing records that were established at still-racing Pennsylvania fairs in 2010: Straight Character set the Indiana and Washington standards that have stood this test of time. On the trotting side, every track record has been broken since 2011 except one – at Indiana, Keystone Badger’s speed mark of 2:00 has been in place for 38 years now!
 
Honesdale annually conducts a free-for-all event on both the pace and the trot, to their commendation. The other division of the FFA pace went to Honesdale’s own Richard Dunn, trainer and co-owner with MBC Stables, of Rusty Beach, a Monticello Open performer who won “at home” in 1:58.2 guided by Eric Neal. The FFA trot on Thursday was won by a Schadel “family team,” but in the other direction: Todd drove Menotti to victory for trainer-owner-father Bruce Schadel.
 
For a two-day meet with 22 races, there were many horses who earned distinction, and we will mention those, starting with Wednesday’s two-year-olds. Fastest freshman pacer was the Papi Rob Hanover – Warrawee Quick colt Fast Getaway (“A,” Todd Schadel, 2:02); fillies Dragon Flame (Td. Schadel) and Honey Roll (Sam Beegle) won “A” events in 2:02.2.
 
Among baby trotters, the Father Patrick – Wind Of The West filly Western Twister is now undefeated in five “A” starts after a 2:04 triumph for driver Eric Neal, trainer Tom Loughry Jr., and Brocious Racing Stable Inc.; that same combine had the fastest of the freshmen at 2:03.3, RT Road To Glory (Fordham Road – RT Gloria De Dios).
 
 Among the three-year-old trotters, Neal/Loughry Jr. swept the “A” contests, with the Fordham Road gelding RT Wonder Colt in 2:03.3 for “Rocky Top” Brocious, and the Father Patrick filly Hot For Her in 2:05.1 for Lone Wolf Stable.
 
Among the sidewheeling fillies, both “A” winners tied the all-divisions fair seasonal mark with their fifth victories for Team Todd Schadel: the Bettor’s Wish filly Don’t Be Late in 2:02.4 and the Papi Rob Hanover miss Papi Knows in 2:02.2. The “B” winner also came from Todd’s barn, and she won for the fifth time, but they’ve all been in the lower class – Dark Sky (Tall Dark Stranger).The same stable also had the fastest sophomore in the Tall Dark Stranger gelding Fourbyfourbyyou in 2:02.
 
This Honesdale meet was the “fair meet,” following the earlier 2-Day Fair Sire Stakes meet. Careful readers will have surmised that Todd Schadel won this stand’s driving and training title, but also having a fine meet were the teams of driver Eric Neal and trainer Tom Loughry Jr. and driver Tony and trainer Linda Schadel.
 
The PA Fair Circuit now goes 341 miles on a mostly-west and slightly-south route to the Washington County Fair (just down the road from The Meadows), held over the oval known as Arden Downs and once a home of Grand Circuit racing.  Entries will be drawn on Friday for racing on Sunday the 16th (scheduled at 10 am) and Monday the 17th (11 am). This is the busiest fair week of the Pennsylvania summer: after Washington they’ll be at Dayton on Wednesday and Thursday, and Meadville on Friday and Saturday.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – What in the name of Rod’s Faybill has been going on this past week at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania?
 
In the third race at Scarborough Downs (ME) on Tuesday, June 23, 1981, a trotter named Rod’s Faybill, starting from post eight, attracted a solitary $2 win wager. Rod’s Faybill was far back most of the mile, but he took advantage of a mixup on the far turn and won (by 15 lengths!), returning a win payoff of $1365.80 – according to the Internet, still the largest in harness racing history. (That single ducat was held by a vacationer from Virginia.)
 
In the sixth race at Pocono on Tuesday, a trotter named Bijou Blue Chip made her career debut from post eight, and she was dismissed at 92-1, the longest odds in the race. Bijou Blue Chip was in the second half of her field most of the race, but then was able to mount a winning rally in her bow.
 
Bijou Blue Chip’s win payoff was $186.40, the highest recorded at The Downs since Spit And Vinegar paid $214.60 on October 12, 2021. This was the third consecutive card at the mountain oval where a $100+ longshot blew out the tote board (four for eastern Pennsylvania if you count the $107.00 winner at Philly on Sunday). That kind of “triple” has not been matched in the last ten years at Pocono. A total of ten carryover pools were generated by the massive overthrow of the form book during the three-day week.
 
Bijou Blue Chip was actually a feature race winner at Pocono, as the card headlined four $16,000 contests for two-year-olds. The Back Of The Neck – Read The Book trotting filly clocked a good maiden time of 1:57.2 for driver Lauren Tritton and trainer Annie Stoebe, the latter co-owner with Blue Chip Bloodstock Inc. and R. Lynn Curry. The race for her male counterparts was won by the Walner – Molto Bene gelding Celebrity Tequila, with whom driver Brian Sears (6-for-15 in his “comeback”) set a slow pace then maintained the advantage for a maiden mark of 2:00 for Flying A Racing Stable, Celebrity Farms, and trainer Hunter Oakes’s H O Racing Inc.
 
There were also two cuts for pacing fillies, both bringing maiden victories. The Perfect Sting – Philly Hanover distaff Philly’s Sting got the nod in a 1:55.4 decision for driver Ridge Warren, trainer Juan Cano, and Hot Lead Farm, while the Stay Hungry – Chant Down Babylon filly Kinda Girl U Like went into grinding mode to be along in 1:56 for Anthony Napolitano and trainer Scott Di Domenico, whose Triple D Stables Inc. owns the baby.
 
Racing resumes at Pocono on Saturday (August 15) at 1 p.m., with a $21,000 fast-class pace the top event of the day. A week from this Saturday, August 22, Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania will be proud to host North America’s top three-year-olds and free-for-allers in the $2.3M Sun Stakes Saturday supercard, with a first race post that day only of 2:30 p.m. The fields for Sun Stakes Saturday will be drawn the morning of Monday, August 17. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The Åke Svanstedt barn sent out three winning sons of Captain Corey in PA-sired third preliminary round stakes action for two-year-old trotting males Monday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Sun, including the colt winners of both divisions of Sire Stakes events contested over a “sloppy” oval.
 
The quicker of the two, Jimdougie Armitage (dam Quick Bet), broke his maiden in fine style with a 1:55.1 victory. Svanstedt, elected to the Hall of Fame last week, was in the sulky behind the winner, coming first-over and still able to win by 2¾ lengths over Dream Shaq, who had to rebound from an early bobble as he sought his third straight PaSS win but had to settle for the deuce. Second in a PaSS event and third from post ten in a Kindergarten leg before Monday, Jimdougie Armitage graduated with flying colors for the ownership of S R F Stable, Knutsson Trotting Inc., Brochart Stable Inc, and Svanstedt & Midnight Sun.
 
Yankee Boss (dam Brigit Of Kildare) won in 1:56.3 just after a midcard storm changed the track from fast to sloppy, reducing his mark from a previous overnight win. The “Boss” was the boss after making the lead past the quarter, with his only end-stage challenger, Big Time Trot S, losing stride in the stretch while close enough to contend. Svanstedt drove “Big Time,” which gave the catch-driving opportunity to a top driver but one you might not associate with Åke’s horses – Jonathan Roberts. The longtime MidAtlantic star is part of the horse’s ownership of Kiwi Stables LLC and Graham Grace Stables LLC, who are also partners in the millionaire pacer Beau Jangles.
 
The other Svanstedt / Captain Corey connection was in the Stallion Series, which was conducted in four $20,000 divisions to swell the day’s stakes money to $191,292. Hook N Reel (dam Flos Conch Shack) added a second victory in the Stallion Series series in back-to-back starts, the gelding winning in 1:57.3 (three of the StS races were held over fast going). Driver-trainer Svanstedt is also an owning partner with Brochart Stable and S R F Stable, giving those entities a second stakes ownership win. Svanstedt also won an overnight race to end his day with three sulky successes and four training triumphs.
 
Captain Corey earned a second PaStS credit and a fourth stakes victory on the day in the fastest StS cut, as the gelding Strapped (dam Borrow And Spend) ran his record to two for three with a new mark of 1:55.4 for driver Tyler Buter, trainer Nicholas Devita, and owners David Hamm and Glenn Phillips.
 
The other fast track Stallion Series contest went to the Greenshoe – Tuscany colt Scarpa, bringing Pocono’s leading driver Tyler Buter a second stakes win while breaking his maiden in 1:57.3 for trainer Nifty Norman, whose Enzed Racing Stable Inc. shares ownership with Melvin Hartman.
 
Friday Night Fats, a Cantab Hall – Lovely Liv colt, also notched a second win in StS races, also in consecutive starts, with a 1:57.1 success over a surface which had gone over to sloppy. Mike Wilder drove the Matthew Burkholder trainee for Dark Horse Farm LLC.
 
Pocono will be hosting the $1.4M Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Championships on September 7, Labor Day Monday; the best of this card’s horses should be on hand, as will many performers highlighting the Tuesday 1 p.m. card, which has four $16,000 overnights for freshmen. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Favorites won the three featured races at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Hambletonian Saturday afternoon – but after that, mutuel mayhem was more the order of the day.
 
Dandy Ideal and Ruthless Hanover were the two horses handicapped to the outside posts in the $29,500 fast-class featured pace – with the scratch of Ruthless Hanover, Dandy Ideal became the overwhelming favorite, and he proved himself worthy of the faith with a 1:49.1 victory. Tyler Buter sent the American Ideal gelding to the lead nearing the :26.1 quarter, then got a breather to the :55.1 half. The pace picked up with a tailwind at the three quarters to a 1:21.4 fraction into the turn, and then Buter could get a :27.2 last quarter out of him into the breeze, fastest of the day (the average last quarter of the other races on the day was :29).
 
The game Congressional, as quick a gateleaver as anyone, went out and sat the pocket, but he was 1¼ lengths behind Dandy Ideal, who now has career earnings of $1,19,007 from 20 victories in 35 starts. Hunter Oakes trains the winner for Susan Oakes and Alan Johnston.
 
The Betting Line gelding Goliath Hanover had to overcome the rough tuck then first-over journey in the $16,000 fast-class pace subfeature, but the pacer proved equal to the tough task, grinding to the wire first ahead of pacesetter Be Dazzle Lou A (:26.3, :56, 1:23.1) to win by the smallest possible margin in 1:51. Jack Pelling got the giant effort out of the winner for trainer Darren Taneyhill and P T Stable.
 
A $17,500 trot for up-and-coming horses saw the Walner gelding Night Phantom go wire-to-wire in his debut for trainer Lily Cimino, leading past the poles in :26.2, :55.4, and 1:23.4 en route to a three length win in 1:53.3. Anthony Napolitano had the sulky duty behind the winner of four of his last five for owner Jaypaul Hoover.
 
The other side of “the chalk line” is reflected by the fact that there were three winners who paid $50.00 or more to win – the first time that event has happened at Pocono since April 29, 2024. Nvrfearlloydishere was the top payer at $115.40, and Tyler Buter was also a part of the longshot lunacy with Imaginary Line despite post eight at $62.00. Of course, it figured that Buter would be somewhere in the big-number mix – in addition to having the most overall victories for the meet, Buter also has the most $50+ winners with five (one ahead of Anthony Napolitano, who is second to him in the seasonal standings!).
 
Buter had four winners overall Saturday to earn himself another distinction; Simon Allard doubled. Trainers with two wins include Hunter Oakes and Darren Taneyhill, with Buter driving both of the former’s and one of the latter’s.
 
The Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and Stallion Series come to town for their third preliminary leg on Monday card beginning at 1 p.m., with $191,292 up for grabs among two Sire Stakes divisions and four Stallion Series sections. And of course just around the corner is the $2.4 million SUN STAKES SATURDAY supercard – more details as the August 22 card firms up. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – There were two divisions of two-year-old trotting fillies racing in preliminary number two of the group’s Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action on Thursday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia. The two winners shared an amazing number of similarities: trainer Marcus Melander, driver Dexter Dunn, sire Captain Corey, being laid off for 23 days, favoritism, lowering their lifetime bests, staying undefeated, and setting a track record for their group. The one place there wasn’t agreement was in the times: Birr Castle won the first grouping in 1:53.4 to equal the Philly divisional track standard, and then Two Day Hangover stopped the clock in 1:53.3 in the second cut to take sole possession of the record.
 
To recap chronologically, Birr Castle (dam Melania), who had been victorious in the first PaSS prelim round, recorded her success before her stablemate, going right to the lead and set fractions of :27.2, :57, and 1:25,2, then holding off a late challenge from pocketsitter Orinoco by three quarters of a length for Pheasant Hill Farm (Ed Lohmeyer). The 1:53.4 equaled the mark of Country Victory (2024) and Ginger Hill Lex, who got her share of the record becoming last year’s Sires champ in this division; this victory pushed Birr Castle’s record to staying unblemished after three starts, with her other win in a Pennsylvania All-Stars race.
 
Those three lost their shared line in the local books 68 minutes later when Two Day Hangover (dam Sherry Lyns Lady, whose second dam was the famous D Train) captured the second division while lowering the record. With leavers to both sides of her, Dunn decided to duck “Two Day” into fourth early, and after fractions of :27.2 and :57.3 came uncovered. The new recordholder, whose only other start was also an All-Stars success, gained ground to the 1:25.4 three quarters, gained more around the turn and into the stretch to take the lead, and won off by 2½ lengths for Brittany Farms LLC and Marvin Katz LLC.
 
The five $20,000 complementary Stallion Series divisions, which brought the day’s stakes purses to $211,892, had some commonalities too: the winners all established lifetime bests (four of them maiden marks), and none of the five were the crowd’s choices. The fastest StS winner was the only non-maiden, Opa Mearas S (International Moni – Lily Kronos IT), a 1:55 winner for driver Andrew McCarthy, trainer Nicklas Andersen, and Snogarps Gard Inc.
 
McCarthy gained a second StS win with Sevenoops Hanover (Greenshoe – Sevenopper), a 1:57 winner for trainer Petter Engblom and Engblom Farm LLC, Evans Nation, and Hickory Hollow Stables.
 
Trainer-driver Trond Smedshammer also doubled in the Stallion Series: giving International Moni a second siring credit with Southwind Galli (dam Southwind Gilly), a 1:58.3 winner for American Viking Racing Stable and M3 Racing Stable, and with the debutante Sevecorey (Captain Corey – Seven Wood), home in 1:58 for Purple Haze Stables LLC.
 
Captain Corey got a second StS siring winner, and a fourth stakes win on the day, when T’wouldmakemesing (dam Woman Of Power) avoided wholesale early confusion en route to a 1:56.2 victory for driver Trae Porter, trainer George Ducharme, and FTM Racing Stable LLC.
 
All fifteen races on Thursday were for trotters, and the highest classes had their weekly features, both won by driver Yannick Gingras. Developing horses, going for $14,000, were fronted by $76.80 winner Captain Parker, a Musical Rhythm gelding who dropped his mark to 1:53 for trainer Chuck Crissman Jr. and owners Barbara Boese and Wendy Crissman.  A $13,000 handicap for fast-class established horses went to the Wishing Stone gelding Guido Di, coming east from The Meadows and promptly winning in 1:53 for trainer Steve Schoeffel and owners Kathy Schoeffel, Lewis Falton, and Marian Schilling.
 
Yannick Gingras was the big human winner on the day with four sulky successes, two of which were for the new Hall of Famer Åke Svanstedt (one of Svanstedt's was with fellow new Hall of Famer Al Libfeld as a partner). Trainer-driver Trond Smedshammer doubled; trainer Nicklas Andersen had his winners driven by Andrew McCarthy and Philly leader Tim Tetrick, each of whom also had two; and of course the featured Marcus Melander – Dexter Dunn combo.
 
Distaffs have the spotlight on Philly’s 12:25 card on Friday; on Sunday at 12:40 there will be PA-sired action for the two-year-old pacing filly set. And of course you can watch and wager on the big Hambletonian Day card at The Meadowlands Saturday, which begins at noon, through the track’s simulcasting system. Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.