CLEARFIELD – One of the truly great finishes in Clearfield County Fair harness racing history helped set up perhaps the best Charles “Buster” DiSalvo Trophy chase ever Thursday afternoon when three-year-old pacers brought down the curtain for the 2012 meet at the Driving Park.
Roger Hammer, who already has 10 DiSalvo trophies on display back home in Bedford, appeared on his way to a wire-to-wire victory behind Paints Hall in the second of the eight races that would have put him two up on Dave Brickell, another former DiSalvo Trophy recipient.
However, a four-horse duel developed in the stretch of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Filly Pace’s Robert Luce Memorial Division as Brickell’s Kaitlin Kir and James Dodson’s Argument Hanover charged up on the outside for a blanket finish.
Officially, the three were separated by a nose according to the computer utilized by the track photographer.
In reality, it was a virtual dead heat for first place.
The photo judge Doug Bishop displayed when he stepped out of the booth after several minutes to declare Kaitlin Kir the winner showed that the bay filly owned by William E. Kirwan of Johnstown and trained by John McMullen, Jr., had nipped Paints Hall by the tip of his nose, with Argument Hanover a very close third.
The win was the sixth in 17 starts this year and the seventh in 28 lifetime starts for Kaitlin Kir, padded her earnings total to $38,800.
More importantly for Brickell, the 2:02 trip tied him with Hammer at five wins for the week.
A sixth win proved elusive for Hammer in the next two races, too, as Serenity Breeze was beaten by Medoland Zizzy in deep stretch and placed third in the Chandler & Dawson Ross Memorial Division and Shootoutthelights was unable to hold off Steppin Hanover in the Margaret “Peggy” Haney Memorial Division after both were first out of the gate and led the whole way.
Medoland Zizzy went under the wire a half-length ahead of Allstar Life to score in 2:05.2 and make Brady Brown a doublewinner. The win was the first in 11 starts this year and number three lifetime for the brown filly owned by Edward J. McKnight of Dunellen, N.Y.
The next race was delayed 10 minutes because Steppin Hanover was a late arrival as a result of the tractor-trailer accident and fire that shut down I-80 for most of the day, but the bay filly wasn’t hampered by a quick warm-up.
Last out of the gate, Steppin Hanover was guided into the pocket behind the Hammer-owned Shootoutthelights at the halfway mark by Chris Shaw, who was content to keep her there until the stretch. Steppin Hanover, owned by trainer Syl King, Jr., of New Holland, J.J. Benedetti, Jr., of Freehold, N.J., and R.E. Silletto of Jackson, N.J., won her fourth consecutive fair race and fifth of the year in 2:02.4.
Then, Shaw created a history-making three-way deadlock for the DiSalvo Trophy with just three races remaining by coming right back to take Theshipscruisinin wire-to-wire to victory for trainer-owner Hoy Rickert and co-owner Pauline Rickert of Fredonia.
Coming off a win in 1:58.3 at The Meadows last week, Theshipscruisinin scored in 2:02.2 in her first fair start, besting Cin Cardle, with Brown in the sulky, by 2-3/4 lengths in the Violet Lansberry Memorial Division of the PASS Filly Pace.
Hammer had an ace in the hole, though, for the Mary Hainsey Memorial Division of the PASS Colt Pace with Nucular Enemy, winner of 18 races in 35 lifetime starts, including five of his last six fair starts, and $65,110 in earnings.
The bay gelding, whose lifetime mark of 1:53.1 was set at The Meadows, didn’t disappoint his owner-trainer, posting the fastest time of the week, 2:00.4, to not only earn Jerry “Killer” Krisher Memorial Award but also provide Hammer with the win he needed to claim the DiSalvo Trophy.
“I figured they wouldn’t beat him,” said the 66-year-old Hammer, who had jogged down the track to accept the hardware from Eric and Ryan Roessner, grand-nephews of Buster DiSalvo, and Meredith Gollmer, Eric’s fiancee.
Hammer did not drive in the seventh race but was confident neither Brickell nor Shaw would draw even again in the R-Bar Division because of McHoffman, driven by Eric Neal.
He almost was disappointed, for Brickell’s Dalton Hanover was in a neck-and-neck battle with Brown’s Hershey Please for the lead around the final turn.
However, McHoffman passed both of them in the stretch to ease past Hershey Please by 3/4 of a length at the wire. The bay gelding, trained by Randy Neal, set a new lifetime mark, 2:01.4, with his second win in seven starts for the Andray Farm of Punxsutawney and Linwood Farm of Greensburg.
All three DiSalvo Trophy contenders were seated in bikes for the finale, rated by Hammer as a toss-up between Brickell’s Herlastchance and eventual winner Real Tenacity, driven by trainer Robert Vereny for owner Audrey Wolf of Odessa, Fla.
Herlastchance was the half-mile leader but gave way to Real Tenacity at the three-quarter pole, then broke in the last turn and faded to last place.
Shaw’s Cheshire Cat never was a factor.
Hammer’s own Nate Breeze was fourth most of the trip before ending up in second place, 1-1/4 lengths back.
Real Tenacity paced the mile in 2:04 for his third win in 13 starts this year.
The lone Quaker State Pace went to Seth First in 2:10.4. The brown gelding’s wire-to-wire, 1-1/2-length win was his first of the year to go with five victories in 2011. Wayne L. Long and Joyce Lineweaver of Camden, N.J., are the owners.
The fair meet drew 177 entries for 35 races that had payouts of $107,566.
Fourteen drivers made it to the winner’s circle, including Eric Neal with four victories, Brown with three and Long and Bobby Rougeaux with two apiece.
Chester C. Chidboy Memorial Quaker State 3-Year-Old Pace
(Purse $2,341) – 1. Seth First (2), B. Brown; 2.Laundress Hanover (1), W. Long; 3. Dealer Lauxmont (3), S. Johnston; 4. Roughwaytogo (4), C. Flickinger. TIME: 2:10.4.
Pennsylvania Sire Stakes 3-Year-Old Filly Pace
Robert Luce Memorial Division (Purse $3,030) – 1. Kaitlin Kir (2), D. Brickell; 2. Paints Hall (1), R. Hammer; 3. Argument Hanover (5), J. Dodson; 4. NF Jessica (3), A. Johnston; 5. Scott’s Terror (4), B. Brown. TIME: 2:02.
Chandler & Dawson Ross Memorial Division (Purse $3,030) – 1. Medoland Zizzy (3), B. Brown; 2. Allstar Life (1), C. Kreiser; 3. Serenity Breeze (2), R. Hammer; 4. Caribe (4), D. Brickell; 5. Lima Beauty (5), C. Shaw. TIME: 2:05.2.
Margaret “Peggy” Haney Memorial Division (Purse $3,030) – 1. Steppin Hanover (5), C. Shaw; 2. Shootoutthelights (2), R. Hammer; 3. Dvc Itsanattitude (4), D. Brickell; 4. Markin My Territory (3), W. Long. TIME: 2:02.4. Scratched – Wanna Go Fast (1).
Violet Lansberry Memorial Division (Purse $3,030) – 1. Theshipscruisinin (1), C. Shaw; 2. Cin Cardle (5), B. Brown; 3. Golden Slipper (3), J. Green; 4. Nuclearccino (4), R. Hammer. TIME: 2:02.2. Scratched – TSM Pearldrop (2).
Pennsylvania Sire Stakes 3-Year-Old Colt Pace
Mary Hainsey Memorial Division (Purse $3,978) – 1. Nucular Enemy (1), R. Hammer; 2. Anotherbugga (4), W. Long; 3. Dvc I’s Magical (6), J. Dodson; 4. Cervante Bluestone (5), R. Verney; 5. Summer Foolery (2), C. Shaw. TIME: 2:00.4. Scratched – Mcjestic (3).
R-Bar Division (Purse $3,978) – 1. Mchoffman (6), E. Neal; 2. Hershey Please (3), B. Brown; 3. Dalton Hanover (2), D. Brickell; 4. Power Share (4), C. Shaw; 5. Baybliss (5), R. Verney; 6. Youllhavetolaugh (1), A. Johnston. TIME: 2:01.4.
Liberty Tax Service Division (Purse $3,978) – 1. Real Tenacity (1), R. Verney; 2. Nate Breeze (3), R. Hammer; 3. Ticklish Terror (2), C. Kreiser; 4. Cheshire Cat (5), C. Shaw; 5. Police Car (6), B. Brown; 6. Herlastchance (4), D. Brickell. TIME: 2:04.