CLEARFIELD – A Driving Park record-tying performance by Lucious Al and thrilling finishes in three races decided by one length or less kept Clearfield County Fair harness racing fans cheering Tuesday afternoon as two-year-old pacers and their drivers put on quite a show to bring the four-day meet to the halfway mark.
Roger Hammer, a longtime favorite at the half-mile oval, guided Lucious Al to a 2:01 trip in the first division of the Ron Lizotte Pace for first-year Pennsylvania Sire Stakes pacers that matched the 2 year-old colt track standard set by Love of Art in 2002 and equaled by DVC Firm Believer last year. Both were reined by Timmy Offutt.
Hammer also drove MS America and Bliss Falcon to victories in the W.G. Satterlee & Sons Pace for PASS fillies to pick up the Foster Kerr Memorial Trophy for most wins in the 11-race program.
He\’s on track for another Charles \”Buster\” DiSalvo Trophy awarded annually to the driver with the most wins for the week, leading by three with his two-day total of five.
A quartet of teenage drivers did their best to steal the limelight from the senior citizen from Bedford.
Two of them, Brad Brown and Jordon Miller, made it into the winner\’s circle in the opening Butch Flanagan Memorial Pace, a Quaker State event.
Brown, a 16-year-old who earned his license just last month and was in just his third race, brought Camerosa from behind on the second lap of the first division for an eight-length victory. The bay filly, owned by Virginia and Kathy Schoeffel of Evans City and trained by four-time DiSalvo Trophy winner Steve Schoeffel, lowered her lifetime mark to 2:11.1.
That was three-fifths of a second faster than when she finished in a dead heat for first at the Hughesville Fair July 23 for Brown, who works in the Terry Schoeffel Stables in Butler. He will be a junior at Slippery Rock High School this fall.
Victory behind Milano Grande in the second division had to be special, and emotional, for Miller.
As a youth, the 19-year-old third-generation driver became very good friends with the late Jerry \”Killer\” Krisher, who passed away in August of 2006 after being involved with harness racing for 46 years, 30 as track superintendent.
\”We always used to come up and go fishing and hunting with him,\” Miller said. \”We haven\’t been up since he passed away. We thought we\’d come up for him. I actually got \”In Memory of Killer\” written on my race bike.\”
Miller, who has his professional license and is the youngest driver at The Meadows in Washington, made an auspicious Clearfield County Fair debut with Milano Grande, trained by his father, J.C. Miller, Jr., and owned by Michael Grande of Washington.
The brown filly got away second to Keystone Radience, and the two were side-by-side at the quarter pole before Miller sent Milano Grande to the front. She went on to register her Maiden win by 12-1/4 lengths in 2:02.3, just one second off the 2YO filly record set by Nicole\’s Artist for Hammer in 2003, and earn the Butch Flanagan Memorial cooler blanket.
Miller was one of three teenage drivers in the second division. Keystone Radience\’s James Brewer also is 19, while Seth W Hanover\’s Aaron Johnston is 18.
Eric Neal, another 18-year-old, turned in an impressive drive behind McDickerson in the final dash of the afternoon.
The senior-to-be at Punxsutawney Area High School guided the bay gelding from last place on the first trip past the grandstand to third going to the final quarter to first, racing three wide, coming out of the stretch. McDickerson pulled away from Timmy Offutt\’s Bodine Hanover in the stretch for a 3-1/4-length victory in 2:02.3.
The win was the second in five starts for McDickerson, pushing his earnings over $10,000, and the second for Neal in his first time behind the horse owned by his father, Randy Neal, and grandfather, Cliff Neal.
McDickerson\’s qualifying races and first two starts were at The Meadows, including a win on July 7, with an additional start at Harrah\’s Racetrack in Chester.
Randy Neal said the sole reason he trucked McDickerson to Clearfield was to provide his son with an opportunity to gain some experience.
\”He just got his license at the end of last year and didn\’t have that many starts,\” Neal explained. \”I just brought him (McDickerson) so my boy could drive him. Just give him some experience, cause this is what he wants to do.
\”He did good. He was patient. He just sat back there, and then come with him at the end.\”
The young driver exhibited patience beyond his years, according to his proud mother, Suzie Neal, who watched everything unfold from the outside rail on the final turn.
\”He got kind of pushed out four wide down here,\” she pointed out. \”Then he just sat back down in until he could pull out.
\”Eric\’s a very level-headed driver.\”
She noted that her husband had a similar trip with McDickerson at the Hughesville Fair two weeks ago and finished third.
\”He got disgusted and couldn\’t clear him because he got pushed out so far. But Eric had the patience and got the win today.\”
The other Ron Lizotte Pace winners were DVC Givemeattitude and McRum N Coke.
DVC Givemeattitude was just one tick away from tying the 2 year-old colt race with a 2:01.1 mile for owner-trainer-driver David Brickell of Smicksburg, near Punxsutawney, in the second division. The bay gelding won by 10-3/4 lengths and shows more than $21,000 in earnings for seven wins and a second in nine starts.
McRum N Coke went wire-to-wire for Joe Offutt of Woodsboro, Md., to push his winnings past $15,000 with a 2:03.1 trip in the third division. Offutt trains the bay colt he co-owns with Samuel Stoltzfus of Ronks. McRum N Coke has two wins, three seconds and two thirds in eight races.
The Ron Lizotte Pace cooler blanket went to Luscious Al, whose 2:01 mile also was rewarded with the Fritz Beinhauer Memorial Trophy for the fastest dash of the day.
The bay gelding, the first colt to break 2:00 on the Pennsylvania Fair Circuit this year with a 1:59.2 score at the Gratz Fair on July 11, sports four wins in nine starts and more than $14,500 in earnings.
\”He\’s a nice horse,\” Hammer said. \”At a couple fairs we raced him, he got run into. All I was worried about today was the second tier, just getting him out of there. Then, once I got him out and clear, I could let him move.
\”I raced his brother (JT Arturo) around the fairs and made a good horse out of him. He won over $600,000.\”
The W.G. Satterlee & Sons Pace produced the program\’s four closest races, with the lone exception MS America\’s Maiden win in the first division.
Hammer had the bay filly he trains for owner Leslie Moore of Kingsville, Md., in front on the first turn, and she won going away in 2:03.2 in her fourth start.
\”That the first time I drover her,\” Hammer said. \”I had her for about three weeks. When she started racing, I always had my own in there and couldn\’t drive her. Every time we raced her, she made a couple bad breaks. We had to take her hobbles off and change her head-check and plug her ears. Everything got her excited, and we couldn\’t control her. It sort of settled her down, and she was good today.\”
Hammer also guided his own Bliss Falcon to her first win in the fourth division, breezing around Timmy Offutt\’s DVC Gotta Believe in the stretch to cross the line 2-1/4 lengths in front in 2:05.
Post position five turned out to be a plus for the bay filly, whose third place at the Butler Fair was her best effort in five races.
\”She\’s been making breaks, and the back tier really helped today,\” Hammer said. \”When she\’s on the gate, she wants to come out too fast, and she can\’t make the turns.
\”Having her back there helped. I could ease her out of there. I pulled her before the quarter pole and come with her. They hung her the rest of the way (until the stretch).
\”She\’s going to make a nice little filly.\”
Claiming the W.G. Satterlee & Sons cooler blanket was NF Native Lady with a 2:02.4 mile for driver George Heit III and owners Brush & Briar Stables of Cresson and Rusty Fence stable of Bedford in the second division. The bay filly held off fast-closing Budgirls Hanover by a half-length for her second win in four starts. Budgirls Hanover was driven by Jordon Miller.
In the closest finish, 19-year-old Bryce Brocklehurst kept Rosa Blast on the lead all the way in the third division race, but the bay filly leased by his father, Harold, just did get to the line ahead of Joe Offutt\’s B-Gorgous. The photo finish revealed Rosa Blast eked out her Maiden win by a nose in 2:05.2.
The fifth division winner was Native Costume, who lowered her lifetime mark to 2:04.2 after dueling with front-runner Fluffy Slippers throughout the second lap. Driver-trainer Todd Schadel had the brown filly on the outside coming out of the final turn, and she beat Fluffy Slippers by a length. Native Costume has two wins in four starts for four lessees from New York City and Frederick, Md.
HOOFBEATS – 14 drivers have won races in the two days, with only Hammer (five), Brickell (two) and Ed McNeight (two) recording more than one… A total of 57 three-year-old trotters will race for purses totaling $28,383.50 Wednesday, with the first of 11 races to start at one o\’clock… Post time will be at noon on Thursday, when $30,464 will be at stake in eight races for 38 three-year-old pacers.
Tuesday\’s results, with place, horse\’s name, post position in parenthesis and driver\’s name:
Butch Flanagan Memorial Quaker State 2-Year-Old Pace
First Division (Purse $1,288) – 1. Camerosa (2), B. Brown; 2. Always on Hanover (1), J. Offutt; 3. Magical Chase (3), D. Brickell; 4. Stand Before Me (4), J. Miller. Time: 2:11.1.
Second Division (Purse $1,288) – 1. Milano Grande (1), J. Miller; 2. Metro Man (2), C. Shaw; 3. Keystone Radience (3), J. Brewer; 4. Seth W Hanover (4), A. Johnston. Time: 2:02.3.
* * * * *
W.G. Satterlee & Sons Pennsylvania Sire Stakes 2-Year-Old Filly Pace
First Division (Purse $2,723) – 1. MS America (1), R. Hammer; 2. NF Tango (2), C. Shaw; 3. BP Wonder Woman (6), D. Brickell; 4. Variance Hanover (5), E. Neal; 5. All Natural (4), B. Provost; 6. Halter Top Hanover (3), W. Yoder. Time: 2:03.2.
Second Division (Purse $2,672) –1. NF Native Lady (2), G. Heit III; 2. Budgirls Hanover (5), J. Miller; 3. Anxiety Hanover (4), R. Hammer; 4. Summer Style (1), W. Yoder. Time: 2:02.4. Scratched – Keystone Kismet (3).
Third Division (Purse $2,672) – 1. Rosa Blast (1), B. Brocklehurst; 2. B-Gorgous (4), J. Offutt; 3. Grand Central (5), R. Neal; 4. Maranatha Hanover (2), W. Yoder; 5. Testa Hanover (3), T. Altmeyer. Time: 2:05.2.
Fourth Division (Purse $2,672) – 1. Bliss Falcon (5), R. Hammer; 2. DVC Gotta Believe (3), T. Offutt; 3. Team Spirit (2), W. Yoder; 4. RT Dejavo (4), R. Rougeaux III; 5. Rose of Life (1), B. Brown. Time: 2:05.
Fifth Division (Purse $2,672) – 1. Native Costume (2), T. Schadel; 2. Fluffy Slippers (3), W. Yoder; 3. Galway Gael (4), B. Truitt; 4. Wicked Native (5), R. Hammer; 5. BP Ally (1), A. Johnston. Time: 2:04.2.
* * * * *
Ron Lizotte Pennsylvania Sire Stakes 2-Year-Old Colt Pace
First Division (Purse $3,322) – 1. Luscious Al (5), R. Hammer; 2. High Wire Kat (1), C. Shaw; 3. Stately\’s Revenge (4), D. Brickell; 4. Yogi Hanover (3), J. Offutt; 5. Armageddon Hanover (6), T. Schadel; 6. SJ\’s Blissful Guy (2), T. Altmeyer. Time: 2:01 (Ties Driving Park Record).
Second Division (Purse $3,271) – 1. DVC Givemeattitude (3), D. Brickell; 2. Yuma Hanover (2), K. Good; 3. R R Lucky Breeze (5), C. Flickinger; 4. Lucky Rockn Horse (1), T. Offutt; 5. Burton Hanover (4), B. Brown. Time: 2:01.1.
Third Division (Purse $3,271) – 1. McRum N Coke (3), J. Offutt; 3P2. Cories Artist (4), R. Hammer; 4P3. SBM Innocentoutlaw (2), C. Flickinger; 2P4. Bonners Creek (5), L. Merriman; 5. Whiting Hanover (1), B. Brown. Time: 2:03.1.
Fourth Division (Purse $3,271) – 1. McDickerson (3), E. Neal; 2. Bodine Hanover (2), T. Offutt; 3. Straight Character (4), D. Brickell; 4. Sheer Pandemonium (5), R. Hammer; 5. Fourstarzconfusion (1), L. Merriman. Time: 2:02.3.
