By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CLEARFIELD PA – The only surviving stop on the Pennsylvania fair circuit that extends more than two days for its meet, the Clearfield County Fair, located about equidistant from The Meadows and Pocono (Philly is a bit more distant), completed a Saturday through Tuesday stand. Two-year-olds preceded three-year-olds, and trotters preceded pacers in the four-day segment, which offered $116,725 in total purses. Here follows a chronological summary.
 
Saturday’s racing saw the two “A” PA Fair Sire Stakes divisions for both trotting colts and fillies get split between Team Neal/Loughery (driver Eric and trainer Tom Jr.) and team Tn & L Schadel (driver Tony and trainer Linda; the “Tn” differentiates this barn from that of his brother Todd, about whom more soon).
 
Fastest of all of the two-year-old trots was produced by the Father Patrick – Tom’s B-day Belle filly Belle’s Victory in 2:06.4. She is a Tony/Linda distaff also owned by them; that team also had a winner in the “B” colt and filly m  trot for the day’s honors.
 
The fastest freshman pacer, on Sunday, was also a filly: the Sweet Lou – Takara Rose miss Vegas Queen, who set a fair season’s record of 2:02.4 in winning for owner George Prushnok and the hot team of driver Joe Chindano Sr. and trainer Neil Balcerak. Chindano and Balcerak were joined by driver Aaron Johnston as doublers for the day.
 
The racing switched over to three-year-olds starting on Monday with trotting action, and the leading horseman at the Pennsy fairs for the last few years, Todd Schadel, drove four winners, three from his own stable. Todd won two of the “A” colt events, with Set The Bar, now undefeated in four fair outings (including his 1:58.4 all-age track record at Hughesville), triumphing in the fastest time, 2:02.4, also the quickest trot of the meet. Trainer-driver Todd is also co-owner with his wife Christine, along with partners Rick and Regina Beinhauer.
 
Todd’s brother Tony won the other “A” colt race was 2024 Fair Champion Lionheart Hanover, now 4-3-1-0 at the fairs in 2025. And trainer-driver Jim Daugherty swept the two colt “B” events.
 
The week concluded with sophomore pacers on Tuesday. Fastest mile of the day and the meet came from a filly, a dominant trend at Clearfield, but the source was perhaps not the one expected. It was the Heston Blue Chip miss D’applesrsweet who turned in a terrific 1:58 mile, just two-fifths off the 22-year-old divisional track record of My Gal Phyl, scoring for driver James Dodson, trainer Ron Lineweaver, and owner Steve Wetzel.
 
Milagro, the ladies’ dominant headline maker with a record 2024 Fair Championship and recently rewriting the Hughesville pacing standard to 1:55.2, quickest mile of the local fair year overall, won again, but “only” in 2:00.2. Driver Tony and trainer Linda Schadel, the co-owners, doubled on the card.
 
Among the colts, Bettor Not, a son of Captain Crunch, won in 1:59, joining Todd Schadel trotting stablemate Set The Bar at the seasonal-high total of four fair “A” wins, and also raising his 2:00 count to a leading three. The team of driver Jesse Barnard and hot trainer Neil Balcerak swept the “B” colt Sire Stakes; Eric Neal was also an overall doubler on the card.
 
Tony Schadel won the Buster DiSalvo Trophy as the winningest driver with seven victories during the meet; all were conditioned by wife Linda, the top trainer.
 
The Keystone fair horses and horsemen are right back in action on Thursday and Friday at the Bedford Fair, where post time will be at 3 p.m. both days. Bettor Not is right back in to go on Friday.
 
The Clearfield races were live streamed; anybody who would like to see the action described in this summary can view the races at https://www.youtube.com/@pfhha-tv3905/streams. (If the sound is low, there is usually closed-captioning, and good graphics.)

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
 
WILKES-BARRE PA – After enjoying spectacularly fast miles from two very promising three-year-olds, the rains came to northeast Pennsylvania and Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania midcard on Monday afternoon, and with the heavy downpour and more similar weather along the way, track management and horsemen agreed to the cancellation to the final five races of the scheduled thirteen-race card. Among the lost races were a $25,000 fast-class distaff pace and two $15,000 events for up-and-coming horses.
 
The two $15,000 races that were held, one for pacers and one for trotters, saw superlative efforts by the winning three-year-olds.
 
The pacing contest that went was for females (the males had their race washed out) and it was taken by the Papi Rob Hanover three-year-old filly Champagne Room, who roared home in a new mark of 1:48.4 – only a fifth off Kiss Me Onthebeach’s 2016 track record and only two-fifths behind the world mark for 5/8-mile tracks set by Odds On Hail Mary at Philly in 2023.
 
The Jack Pelling-driven, Noel Daley-trained distaff went faster in each quarter -- :27.4 in getting away third, then brushing to the lead to the lead with :27.1 speed to hit the half in :55. A :27 third quarter got the filly to the three quarters station in  1:22, and then she threw a haymaker :26.4 at her opponents to leave them far behind. Champagne Room stamped herself as a horse to watch for the ownership of Patricia Stable. L A Express & Sjobolm Inc., and Michael Dolan.
 
The 1:51.2 victory by The Rogue Prince in the only division of the two carded trots that got to go certainly deserves plaudits as well, as that clocking is the fastest trot mile of the year recorded over the Pocono strip. The son of Walner-Check Me Out was content to bide time midpack for driver Tim Tetrick as Camera Man laid down fractions of :27.3, :55.3, and 1:23.2, getting underway nearing the last-named station. Camera Man gave a good fight to the wire, but The Rogue Prince pushed on relentlessly to win by a length, his own last fraction :27.2. 
 
One might wonder what is in the minds of trainer Lucas Wallin and the ownership of Wallin Racing Stable Inc., Karin Walter-Mommert, Arden Homestead Stable, and Solfrid Myhre concerning their plans for a couple of upcoming Saturdays.
 
The racing week concludes at Pocono on Tuesday at 1 p.m. – and Pocono held its inaugural card sixty years ago from that day, July 15, 1965. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – There were three $30,000 divisions of a Pennsylvania All-Stars event for two-year-old pacing fillies on the Sunday twilight card at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, and all three of the winners scored in identical times of 1:53.4.
 
Two of the fillies were sired by the hot Papi Rob Hanover, and one of them recorded her second straight win in 1:53.4, so we’ll lead with her. That would be Call Me Angelita (dam Angel’s Pride), who was second in her purse debut while covering her own back half in :54.3, then won easily last week. Here driver Tim Tetrick could sit third until the three-quarters, from where she made a wicked brush home to just get by the pacesetting Kissedbyastranger by a neck, coming her own back fractions in  :55 - :26.3. Scott Di Domenico conditions the fleet filly for Triple D And Oompa Farm, Michael Rekoon, Craig Henderson, and Steve Stewart.
 
The other two winners were driven by three-time defending Pocono champion Matt Kakaley, and they both recorded maiden victories after debuting with a second in Sire Stakes competition. The daughter of Papi Rob Hanover with whom Matt won was Say Goodnight (dam One Last Kiss), who left and controlled all the fractions, stepping her back numbers in :55.3 - :27.2 while defeating Sandyboots Hanover by a length in winning for trainer Nicholas Devita and owners David Hamm and Glenn Philllips.
 
Kakaley also was in the sulky when the Captaintreacherous-Tica Hanover distaff Big Weekend got into a very fast gear down the backstretch to sweep to the lead into the stretch, then had enough to hold off a late burst from a weaving-for-room Joyful Hanover in a :28.1 last quarter. Travis Alexander trains the quick freshman for Fiddler’s Creek Stables LLC. Overall Kakaley had three winners on the program to top the Pocono colony for the day.
 
Driver Yannick Gingras and trainer Ron Burke had a good stakes night even though they had to settle for second in all three All-Stars divisions.
 
Racing continues on Monday and Tuesday at Pocono Downs, with both cards scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – Thirsty Thursday yielded to favored Railroad Station to sit the pocket in the $13,500 featured pace at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon, then moved out of the two-hole and caught the chalk by a neck in a 1:50.4 mile.
 
Thirsty Thursday, an altered sophomore son of Huntsville, was on top well before a :27.1 quarter, then yielded to the brusher in front of the stands and sat in the golden chair through middle splits of :55.4 and 1:23.2. Railroad Station had a :27.2 last quarter left in him, but it wasn’t enough to stall the rallying-wide winner, who was driven by Simon Allard for trainer Hunter Oakes and the ownership of Flying A Racing Stable and Chuck Pompey.
 
The Betting Line gelding Bettor Not Talk had little trouble in beating out the $11,000 fast-class pacing field in 1:50. Tim Tetrick got him away third, then moved nearing the :27.2 quarter and grabbed command, put up middle splits of :55.1 and 1:22.3, and maintained full control to the wire. Scott Di Domenico conditions the winner for owner Allen Wenc.
 
After the 1-2 knockouts by distaffs Twin B Joe Fresh and Miki And Minnie at The Meadowlands Saturday night, trainer (and new Hall of Famer) Chris Ryder sent out a first-time starter in the freshman Stay Hungry – Fashion Hill colt Panther Hanover. And the Tom Hill-owned baby was most impressive, making the lead from the outermost slot, then storming home in :55 - :26.4 to leave his field well behind in 1:53 under the guidance of Dexter Dunn.
 
Dunn was also behind debutant Brandon Blvd,  a Downbytheseaside – Alexis Faith colt who fetched $425,000 at auction, and he went wire-to-wire with fractions of :29.3, :59.3, and 1:27.3, with pocketsitter Mick Steamy staying close but not a big threat in the 1:55.2 mile. Andrew Harris trains the freshman for himself, William Pollock, and Bruce Areman. Dunn led all Philly drivers on the afternoon with three victories.
 
 For the second card in a row, driver Johnathan Ahle brought in a $50+ winner, taking the local lead in that category. His win on Sunday with R N RT Band ($64.00) followed the meet’s highest-priced winner, Sporty Design ($136.20), on Friday.
 
Harrah’s schedule during the month of July is Wednesday through Friday at 12:25 and Sunday at 12:40. This week Philly hosts Pennsylvania Sire Stakes / Stallion Series competition for trotting fillies: two-year-olds on Thursday and three-year-olds on Friday. Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The best race of the Saturday afternoon card at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania was the first race, with Dandy Ideal, who was just photoed out by Twisted Destiny in the Messenger Pace Final in his last race, overcoming post eight to win in 1:48.2 – within two-fifths of a second of the track record for sophomore pacing geldings set by two of the best horses of the previous decade: Lucan Hanover (2013) and Wiggle It Jiggleit (2015).
 
Dandy Ideal was extremely wide early and took a midpack tuck for driver Jason Bartlett as Lou Grant (a four-year-old), who’s developed rapidly in recent weeks, was parked well past a :26.1 quarter for command, hitting the half in :54. Dandy Ideal (by American Ideal) moved uncovered at that point and fought bitterly with Lou Grant, even getting a brief small advantage just past the 1:21.1 three-quarters.
 
But Lou Grant is a determined customer, and reclaimed a short lead early in the stretch. The two talented pacers went right at each other through the lane, and it was only in the last strides that Dandy Ideal gained the lead for good, winning by a neck after a memorable battle while lowering his mark for trainer Hunter Oakes and the ownership of Susan Oakes, Thaddeus Wier, and Alan Johnston.
 
That race went for $17,000 on the pace; in the co-featured trot for the same class of horses, the winner was the E L Titan gelding Super Duper Cooper, who sat in the pocket behind favored Ordained as that one went through the rain to post splits of :27.2, :57, and 1:25.1. Jason Bartlett, sweeping the two features, moved Super Duper Cooper, now a winner of $368,147, to the outside entering the stretch and gradually had him get by the leader by three quarters of a length at the wire for trainer Jeff Cullipher and Pollack Racing LLC.
 
In the $16,500 fast-class pace, the Always A Virgin gelding Virgo, who thrives on the lead, won his second straight race, but Kentucky invader Congressional gave him all he wanted in a 1:49.1 mile. Virgo was two-high to gain command by a :25.4 quarter; Congressional was three-deep most of that distance, then powered right on to the top, but Virgo and driver Simon Allard reclaimed the top spot by the :54 half and then reached the three-quarters in 1:21.2. Congressional came back for more in the Pocono Pike, but Virgo held him off by a half length for trainer Darren Taneyhill and owners Mark Jakubik and Jason Darling while stretching his career winnings to $574,487.
 
Also turning in a swift victory was Da Delightful, proving a pocket rocket in 1:49.4. Three trotters clicked for miles of 1:52.4: Cassius Hanover, P L Notsonice, and Mississippi Storm. Of accomplishment on the driving side were Braxten Boyd and George Napolitano Jr., each bringing home three winners.
 
During the racecard there was a trackside ceremony for longtime Pocono fixture Greg Wasiluk, who has had almost every job at the track imaginable, including driver, trainer, judge, and now horsemen’s representative. The universally-admired Wasiluk was given the Unsung Hero Award by the Keystone Chapter of the U.S. Harness Writers Association.
 
Sunday’s 6 p.m. twilight card at Pocono will feature three $30,000 divisions of a Pennsylvania All-Stars event for promising two-year-old pacing fillies; there will also be a carryover into the first race Superfecta pool and the last race High 5 wager. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA –Greenshoe sired four out of the five stakes winners at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Friday afternoon (unfortunately for future breeders, three of his quartet of winners are geldings, including both winners in the third preliminary leg of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for sophomore trotting males).
 
The card featuring $164,366 of stakes action was an unusual afternoon in another way: all of the winners were coming off significant gaps in what would be a regular racing schedule. Fashion Green, the faster Sire Stakes winner in a new mark of 1:52.3, is undefeated in six starts lifetime, but four of them were in early summer of his two-year-old year, one was April 24 of this year, and one was Friday. Whatever Jim Campbell is doing to have the trotter ready off layoffs is surely working, as the sophomore sat behind early fractions of :28.3 and :57.2, then moved uncovered to a 1:25 three-quarters and continued getting faster, coming his own back splits in :55.2 - :27.1 while looking good for driver Tim Tetrick and Fashion Farms LLC.
 
Greenma was undoubtedly helped when favored rival Meshuggah jumped at the start of the other cut, but despite being off for 20 days, he too would have been tough to deny today under any circumstances. Trainer-driver Trond Smedshammer sat with his horse through mild fractions of :29 and :59.1, but the pair then came raw,  gained even with the three-quarters speeding up to 1:26.3, and kept on increasing the velocity, covering his back half in :54 while lowering his mark to 1:53.4 for Purple Haze Stables LLC. It’s a fair question to ask what these two might be doing on the first Saturday in August.
 
All three winners in the Stallion Series action had raced in an All-Stars event at Pocono on May 18, but in the intervening 54 days, two had raced twice, and one once – yet the trio, with no previous StS victories among them, still beat seven other horses (one a doubler) who had previously won Stallion Series races. The Greenshoe that equaled the 1:54.2 quickest of these miles (and is the sole colt of the four winners for that sire), Manoah, was hard-used but still tallied for trainer Anette Lorentzon, owner Courant Inc. and meet-leading driver Tim Tetrick, giving him a win in both of the stakes sections while coming home first four times overall on the day.
 
The other 1:54.2 StS winner, the Bar Hopping colt Give Me A Yankee, was the one who had raced but once since that May 18 common date, but he responded sharply from the pocket to reduce his speed tab for driver Simon Allard, trainer Mark Akins, and the pair’s A 1 Racing. The fourth Greenshoe winner was Green Mel, and second-time Lasix he made every pole a winning one in 1:55.4 - :57 - :28.2 for driver Andy Miller, trainer Julie Miller, and the combine of Willow Oak Racing LLC, Michael Anderson, and Andy Miller Stable Inc.
 
On a day where half the fourteen races were won by the favorites, Sporty Dragon was driven well by Johnathan Ahle for trainer-owner Ray Burt to get home first and pay $136.20 to win – biggest price at Philly since November 10 of last year.
 
Racing resumes at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Sunday, with a 12:40 start time. Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.phha.com.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
HUGHESVILLE PA – For the second straight week, the Pennsylvania Fair harness circuit set up shop at the Lycoming County Fairgrounds in the northcentral portion of the state; last week Hughesville hosted one of five “Two-Day” non-fair events enabled by legislation, and this Wednesday and Thursday the Fair Sire Stakes horses raced the “fair-proper” meeting.
 
The most amazing fact from this week’s racing occurred during Thursday, the day for three-year-olds, as brothers Todd and Tony Schadel swept the eight “A” Fair Sire Stakes events, two divisions each in each of the four categories. Tony is this barn’s driver, wife Linda is the trainer, and the pair co-own all these three-year-old winners, while Todd is the trainer and driver of these horses from his shedrow.
 
Tony and Linda Schadel had a sweep of the pacing filly event, with the Always B Miki filly Milagro, the horse who first won her 2024 Championship in a record time and then last Thursday set the Hughesville’s standard of 1:55.2 under perfect conditions, came back again Thursday to win in 1:59; her stablemate Tina’s Wish also won in 2:01.3. In the three other sophomore “A” sections, drivers Todd won one and Tony won one.
 
The “A” colt paces both provided 2:00 miles, the faster being the Always B Miki gelding Don’t B Blue in 1:59.1 for “TnSchadel”; “TdSchadel” won in 2:00 with Bettor Not to become one of two horses, both from Todd’s barn, to win in the “A”s at the first three fair stops. A third 2:00 mile was added in a “B” Sire Stakes cut, as Risky Endeavor won in 2:00 for driver Joe Chindano Sr. and trainer Neil Balcerak.
 
On the trot, 2024 champion Lionheart Hanover, a Greenshoe gelding, won in 2:01 with Tony’s handling for the fastest trot of this meet; the other winner in this group, Set The Bar, set the track trot standard of 1:58.4 last week and was the second horse of Todd’s to reach three “A” wins at the fairs in 2025. It should be noted that among Todd’s sophomore winners, Set The Bar is the only one not exclusively owned by Todd and his wife Christine; Rick and Regina Beinhauer are also partners.
 
Among the two-year-olds, no “A” horse recorded a third win, but the fair season’s record listing was beaten once and tied once, both alterations by fillies. The Father Patrick – Pixie’s Lady trotting filly Pixie’s Stardust broke her maiden in a fair-leading 2:04.1 for trainer-driver Steve Schoeffel and owners Kathy Schoeffel, James Nelson, Michael Munn, and Roger Romeesser.
 
On the pace, the 2:03.1 season’s mark of Beachy’s Mistress (also handled by Schoeffel) was equaled by the Heston Blue Chip – Sirens Song miss Lady T, who broke her maiden for trainer/driver Pete Kaiser, co-owner with Zachary Kaiser.
 
Training honors at Hughesville II were shared by Linda and Todd Schadel with seven winners; Tony won the driving crown by guiding all  seven of Linda’s winners, with Todd driving six horses he trained (the seventh winner was guided by his son Cody, finishing ahead of his dad). Eric Neal continued with a hot hand by steering two winners each day.
 
The fair circuit is right back in action starting this weekend at Clearfield, about as central a track as there is in Pennsylvania, with Clearfield employing their now-unique four-day format: Sunday the 13th freshman trotters at 5:30, followed by their pacing counterparts on Monday at 1. Pacers are highlighted the last two days at Clearfield, with trotters at 1 on Tuesday and the meet closing with pacers at 5:30 Wednesday.
 
All the Clearfield action is scheduled for live streaming on the You Tube channel of the Fair Horsemen’s Association (PFHHA):https://www.youtube.com/@pfhha-tv3905/streams. You can reach live streaming coordinator Seth Dowling at 717 513 3643.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – The three-year-old Cantab Hall trotting filly Tabdone won her fourth straight race as she took Thursday’s $13,500 feature event at Harrah’s Philadelphia, a neck to the good of Inferno DK.
 
Looped out of the gate by her Danish rival, Tabdone continued on to the lead by a :28.1 quarter, stayed in control through midrace fractions of :57.2 and 1:26.3, and then drew clear a bit late on the turn and into the stretch. Inferno DK fought on gamely in a :28.1 last quarter, but Tabdone got the job done in 1:54.4 for the red-hot pairing of trainer-driver Trond Smedshammer and owner Purple Haze Stables LLC.
 
Fast-class trotters contested $13,000 in the co-feature, and the well-traveled Tactical Landing gelding Djimon (a Yoruban word for “powerful blood”) continued to live up to his name with his third straight win here, tallying in 1:53.3. David Miller sat outside behind an early contested pace past the :27.2 first quarter then moved Djimon to the top, with middle fractions of :56.1 and 1:24.3 following. Favored Once In A Lifetime swung wide off cover but could finish no closer than three lengths behind the winner, who is trained by Mark Steacy for Hudson Standardbred Stable Inc., Dale Larson, and Stephen Downey.
 
The first of two $12,000 trots saw the Muscle Hill three-year-old filly Jersey Slide get her game together in a big way, going wire-to-wire for an easy victory in a lifetime best 1:53.4. Tim Tetrick guided the Jim Campbell trainee for Runthestable Stables. In the other section of this condition, In the other split, the Cantab Hall mare Tracks Of My Tears turned in a lifetime best of 1:55.1 to parry a late move by Jeffery J for trainer Frank Ingrassia and driver Jackie Ingrassia, the latter co-owner with Donna Franchetti.
 
The meet’s leading driver, Tim Tetrick, had three victories to lead the sulkysitters colony, while Andy and David Miller each had two – bringing the career totals of that trio to 40,381 visits to the winners circle. Two of Tetrick’s wins were for Jim Campbell, the only doubling trainer.
 
The Pennsylvania Sire Stakes / Stallion Series returns to Harrah’s Philly Friday at 12:25 with the third preliminary round for three-year-old trotting colts. Earlier Sire Stakes winners Meshuggah and The Fix Is In have drawn in separate divisions, while in the Stallion Series the only two-time winner, Gimlet Hanover, will be joined by six other single leg winners in the three cuts. Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – The Stay Hungry sophomore pacing filly Odds On Aces Full kept grinding away at favored pacesetter Sweet Odds, then beat her to the line by three parts of a length to win the $12,000 feature at Harrah’s Philadelphia Wednesday afternoon in a career best 1:51.4.
 
Sweet Odds moved past a :26.2 opener to wrest command from a longshot, then went to the midway point in :55.3, with Odds On Aces Full (like the leader bred by Odds On Nourrir)  and driver Anibal Borjas moving outside nearing the far turn and the 1:23.1 three quarters. The pacesetter proved resilient, but the winner took her measure late for trainer Tony Alagna and owners Odds On Racing.
 
In an $11,000 trot for two-year-old fillies, the Six Pack – Sleep Tight My Luv miss Naked And Famous had a journey similar to feature winner Odds On Aces Full, sitting fairly close to the pace and then uncorking an uncovered movethat steadily brought her to victory to 1:58.1 in her first betting start. Glitterati backed out behind the winner’s cover on the far turn, but her late bid came up three quarters of a length short as Naked And Famous won for driver Niko Karna, trainer Noel Daley, and CTC Stable.
 
Troy Beyer won four races Wednesday to top the Philly drivers; his compatriot in yellow and green, meet leader Tim Tetrick, visited Victory Lane three times.
 
Racing at Harrah’s Philadelphia will continue this week on Thursday and Friday at 12:25 p.m. and Sunday at 12:40 p.m. The Friday card will feature top-quality three-year-old trotting colts in $164,266 of stakes action in the group’s third preliminary of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and Stallion Series. Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.