By: Jerry Connors, Jr.
INDIANA PA – The Pennsylvania Fair Circuit set up shop in this westcentral Pennsylvania county, native area of actor Jimmy Stewart, on Thursday and Friday for two days of racing during the fair, and within five races of the start of the meet, a track record had been rewritten by a two-year-old trotter three times, setting the tone for the rest of the stand’s racing.
The International Moni – By A Nose Hanover gelding Nose Jammer reset the Indiana standard for freshman trotting males in the very first race, lowering it from 2:05.1 (Markup Hanover, 2012) to 2:04.2 while taking his third start in his last four outings. Trainer-driver Todd Schadel co-owns the new recordholder with wife Christine. The other “A” division went to the only four-time “A” winner among freshman trotters, the Fordham Road - Keystone Wonder gelding RT Wonder Colt.
79-years-young Roger Hammer notched his 4461st driving victory and 2650th triumph as a trainer (where he focuses his energy these days) when he took a turn in the sulky behind the Fordham Road – A Little Laid Back distaff Little Road, whom he owns and who was a pari-mutuel Stallion Series winner in her last start. Against a 2:05.4 divisional track record co-held by Lady Broadway (2012), Ridinonarainbow (2018), and Shalamar Hanover (2024), Little Road and Hammer whitewashed those standards with a triumph in 2:03.2 …
… only to see, 15 minutes later, that Todd Schadel, with whom Hammer was partners in the $3+-plus-earning Hambletonian winner Vivid Photo, would knock a fifth off this baby trotting filly mark before the ink was even dry, with Whiskey Woman, a daughter of International Moni – Cantab Cabela. Trainer-driver Schadel again is co-owner of the winner, who has now won three in a row, with his wife Christine.
Notable among the two-year-old pacers were the Captain Crunch – Pretty Proud gelding Ima Proud Captain, fastest freshman at 2:01.3; and a pair of serial-winning fillies: Vegas Queen (Sweet Lou – Takara Rose), now a five-time success story in “A” company, and Dark Sky (Tall Dark Stranger – Firestorm), who after five wins at the “B” level finally went back to the “A”s and was promptly successful.
Among the three-year-olds, several enviable win totals were extended, and one track record rewritten, that by the Always B Miki pacing filly Golden Magic, who won in 1:59, taking a fifth off Vorst’s 2016 mark while also coming within two-fifths of the all-time Indiana standard set by sophomore male Straight Character in 2010. 23-year-old Case Bateson had the best view of the record mile handling the Doug Snyder-trained filly, who is owned by Geraldine Poerio.
The other magic mile of the meet came in the other division of Friday’s “A” filly pace, and appropriately it was won by another daughter of Always B Miki, Milagro, the 2024 fair champion who posted her seasonal high fifth 2:00 mile of the summer season while winning her eighth “A” contest for co-owners driver Tony Schadel and trainer Linda Schadel.
The only horse with more fair wins than Milagro is the Captain Crunch colt Bettor Not, now nine-for-nine on the twicearound circuit after a 2:02 score for trainer-driver Todd Schadel, co-owner with wife Christine.
Another Tony/Linda horse, the 2024 fair champ Lionheart Hanover (a Greenshoe gelding), also has eight victories around the state half-milers after posting the co-fastest trotting mile of the meet, 2:02. The other 2:02 trotter was the International Moni filly Tally The Tab, whose tab now shows seven fair wins, including five straight on the cotton candy circuit, for Todd and Christine.
Todd Schadel led both the Indiana fair categories for horsemen with seven wins; behind him on the driving side were Eric Neal with five and Dave Brickell with three, while on the training side there was a five-way dead-heat for second with two winners involving Neil Balcerak, Joyce Lineweaver, Tom Loughery Jr., Randal Neal and Linda Schadel.
Next week there are two western stops on the Pennsylvania Fair Circuit: on Sunday and Monday at Wattsburg, racing at 1 p.m. each day, and on Wednesday and Thursday at noon at Stoneboro. For more information, please visit https://www.pafairsracing.org.
INDIANA PA – The Pennsylvania Fair Circuit set up shop in this westcentral Pennsylvania county, native area of actor Jimmy Stewart, on Thursday and Friday for two days of racing during the fair, and within five races of the start of the meet, a track record had been rewritten by a two-year-old trotter three times, setting the tone for the rest of the stand’s racing.
The International Moni – By A Nose Hanover gelding Nose Jammer reset the Indiana standard for freshman trotting males in the very first race, lowering it from 2:05.1 (Markup Hanover, 2012) to 2:04.2 while taking his third start in his last four outings. Trainer-driver Todd Schadel co-owns the new recordholder with wife Christine. The other “A” division went to the only four-time “A” winner among freshman trotters, the Fordham Road - Keystone Wonder gelding RT Wonder Colt.
79-years-young Roger Hammer notched his 4461st driving victory and 2650th triumph as a trainer (where he focuses his energy these days) when he took a turn in the sulky behind the Fordham Road – A Little Laid Back distaff Little Road, whom he owns and who was a pari-mutuel Stallion Series winner in her last start. Against a 2:05.4 divisional track record co-held by Lady Broadway (2012), Ridinonarainbow (2018), and Shalamar Hanover (2024), Little Road and Hammer whitewashed those standards with a triumph in 2:03.2 …
… only to see, 15 minutes later, that Todd Schadel, with whom Hammer was partners in the $3+-plus-earning Hambletonian winner Vivid Photo, would knock a fifth off this baby trotting filly mark before the ink was even dry, with Whiskey Woman, a daughter of International Moni – Cantab Cabela. Trainer-driver Schadel again is co-owner of the winner, who has now won three in a row, with his wife Christine.
Notable among the two-year-old pacers were the Captain Crunch – Pretty Proud gelding Ima Proud Captain, fastest freshman at 2:01.3; and a pair of serial-winning fillies: Vegas Queen (Sweet Lou – Takara Rose), now a five-time success story in “A” company, and Dark Sky (Tall Dark Stranger – Firestorm), who after five wins at the “B” level finally went back to the “A”s and was promptly successful.
Among the three-year-olds, several enviable win totals were extended, and one track record rewritten, that by the Always B Miki pacing filly Golden Magic, who won in 1:59, taking a fifth off Vorst’s 2016 mark while also coming within two-fifths of the all-time Indiana standard set by sophomore male Straight Character in 2010. 23-year-old Case Bateson had the best view of the record mile handling the Doug Snyder-trained filly, who is owned by Geraldine Poerio.
The other magic mile of the meet came in the other division of Friday’s “A” filly pace, and appropriately it was won by another daughter of Always B Miki, Milagro, the 2024 fair champion who posted her seasonal high fifth 2:00 mile of the summer season while winning her eighth “A” contest for co-owners driver Tony Schadel and trainer Linda Schadel.
The only horse with more fair wins than Milagro is the Captain Crunch colt Bettor Not, now nine-for-nine on the twicearound circuit after a 2:02 score for trainer-driver Todd Schadel, co-owner with wife Christine.
Another Tony/Linda horse, the 2024 fair champ Lionheart Hanover (a Greenshoe gelding), also has eight victories around the state half-milers after posting the co-fastest trotting mile of the meet, 2:02. The other 2:02 trotter was the International Moni filly Tally The Tab, whose tab now shows seven fair wins, including five straight on the cotton candy circuit, for Todd and Christine.
Todd Schadel led both the Indiana fair categories for horsemen with seven wins; behind him on the driving side were Eric Neal with five and Dave Brickell with three, while on the training side there was a five-way dead-heat for second with two winners involving Neil Balcerak, Joyce Lineweaver, Tom Loughery Jr., Randal Neal and Linda Schadel.
Next week there are two western stops on the Pennsylvania Fair Circuit: on Sunday and Monday at Wattsburg, racing at 1 p.m. each day, and on Wednesday and Thursday at noon at Stoneboro. For more information, please visit https://www.pafairsracing.org.
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