CLEARFIELD — Nine freshman pacers padded their win totals and four drivers reined multiple winners at the Driving Park Tuesday as the 2013 Clearfield County Fair Harness Racing Meet reached the halfway mark.
The quality of the racing continues to be keen as only three of the two-year-olds were able to go wire-to-wire on the 11-race card that attracted 58 entries for purses totaling $27,879.
Chris Shaw guided three winners to match Marc Mosher’s opening day total, and Steve Schoeffel had two to make it a three-way tie in the chase for the Charles “Buster” DiSalvo Trophy that is awarded to the driver with the most W’s for the week.
Right behind are teen-ager Cory Kreiser and Aaron Johnston, who drew even with Marty Wollam by sitting behind two winners.
The two Quaker State Pace dashes were a portent of things to come for the fans, both having three different leaders.
In the Robert Luce Memorial Division, Loafer Lauxmont made 20-year-old driver Shawn Johnston a winner for the first time in 44 races.
The bay filly owned by Dustin Coyle of Butler left the gate first, dropped to third after the first turn, regained the lead at the half, briefly yielded to Twowordsofadvice at the three-quarter pole and then closed strong to beat Kreiser-driven TSM Yankee Lauma by 2¼ lengths.
Loafer Lauxmont, also trained by Johnston, set her mark at 2:08 in her first win in seven starts.
Kreiser, only 19, expertly guided TSM Maija Star on a 2:11.4 trip in the Beardsley Funeral Home Division.
He was content to keep the brown filly owned by Theodore Tomson of Brackenridge in fourth place while first Bellas Quick, driven by Schoeffel, and then Sunsetonthebeach, driven by Roger Hammer, set the pace.
Kreiser sent TSM Maija Star into the pocket when Bellas Quick reclaimed the top spot at the three-quarters pole and then pulled her outside at the head of the stretch to pace under the wire in front by 2¼ lengths for her second win in four starts.
Next up were the fillies in four Pennsylvania Sire Stakes races.
Stirling Caprice, a bay filly driven by Schoeffel, was the class of the field in the Ward Fink Memorial Division.
She went by Kreiser-driven TSM Seabiscuit B coming out of the first turn and went on to win by 6½ lengths in 2:05.4.
With three wins in six starts, Stirling Caprice has returned more than $6,000 to owners V.P. and K.L. Schoeffel of Evans City, J.M. Reuther of East Aurora, N.Y., and S.J. Goehle of Lancaster, N.Y.
Shaw broke into the win column with La Fiesta in the Margaret Haney Memorial Division, pressing Schoeffel’s Showmeagoodtime at the halfway mark but waiting until the top of the stretch to take the bay filly to the outside for a 2½-length victory.
La Fiesta, owned by Mason Shaw of Scenery Hill, scored in 2:05.1 to boost her earnings to nearly $7,000 with two wins and four seconds in seven trips to the gate.
The Chris Shaw-Mason Shaw combination clicked again with Hopeful Trust in the Walter Jackson Sr. Memorial Division.
The bay filly trained by Jason Shaw paced past Schoeffel’s Sew Psyched as they approached the grandstand the first time and beat Tuckered Out, driven by Brady Brown, under the wire by 3¼ lengths with a time of 2:06.4.
Her fourth win in six races upped her winnings to more than $7,600.
Kreiser had the first wire-to-wire winner of the program with Allstar Desire in The Progress Pace.
Owned by Robert and Julia Krenitsky of Butler, the bay filly stopped the clock at 2:04.3 for her second win in five starts, increasing her winnings to just over $5,500.
Ace Rules breezed to a 2:07 mile for 22-year-old catch drier James Dodson to win the Lansberry Trucking Division cooler blanket in the first of the five divisions in the PASS Colt Pace.
After just five starts, the brown gelding has three wins and more than $5,500 in earnings for owner Joseph Torok of Belsano.
Aaron Johnston, who is 22, had Mcartic Ocean leading the Legends Sports Bar Division most of the way, and his own bay gelding set a new lifetime mark, 2:04.1, in his second win.
Mcartic Ocean has earned almost $6,000 in five starts.
Spy The Lie was dominant in the Mary Hainsey Memorial Division for Schoeffel, posting the fastest mile of the day and meet so far, 2:04.
The bay gelding, coming off three sub-2:00 trips at The Meadows, including one in which he was the favorite, was 12 lengths in front when he crossed under the wire for his third win in six starts.
Spy The Lie has earned more that $7,127 for co-owners V.P. and K.L. Schoeffel, J.A. Nelson and M. Schilling, all Evans City residents.
The Jay Master Memorial Division was the most exciting dash of the afternoon with as TSM Wulf Poof Toof, driven by Aaron Johnston, got up in the final stride to nip Heat of a Dragon by a nose in 2;06.2.
Heat of a Dragon was denied a dramatic victory, for the bay gelding driven by Schoeffel had overcome an early break to come back and pass Wellsaidandone, driven by Hammer, in the final turn but couldn‘t hold off TSM Wulf Poof Toof.
The win was the third for TSM Wulf Poof Toof, owned by Tomson and sporting nearly $5,500 in winnings for six trips to the gate.
In another thriller for the fans, the Crawford Williams Memorial Division had three different pace-setters before Mister Chaos, driven by Shaw for D&P Racing LLC of Muncy, got by Schoeffel’s Bosh Hanover in deep stretch for a one-length victory.
Mister Chaos, which had registered one second and one third in five previous starts, scored in 2:04.2.
Three-year-old fillies and colts will provide the action for the remaining two programs, with the trotters taking to the Driving Park oval for 10 races Wednesday and the pacers bringing down the curtain on the 2013 meet in 10 more races Thursday. Post time is noon.
Tuesday’s results, with place, horse’s name, post position in parentheses, and driver’s name:
Quaker State 2-Year-Old Pace
Robert Luce Memorial Division (Purse $2,589) – 1. Loafer Lauxmont (3), S. Johnston; 2. TSM Yankee Lauma (4), C. Kreiser; 3. Vicker (6), B. Brown; 4. Twowords of Advise (2), A. Johnston; 5. Knight Sky (5), Brian Indof; 6. Inside Straight (1), S. Schoeffel. TIME: 2:08.
Beardsley Funeral Home Division (Purse $2,525) – 1. TSM Maija Star (2), C. Kreiser; 2. Bellas Quik (4), S. Schoeffel; 3. Sunsetonthebeach (5), R. Hammer; 4. Fixed Income (3), S. Johnston; 5. Shebelongstome (1), B. Brown. TIME: 2:11.4.
Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Filly 2-Year-Old Pace
Ward Fink Memorial Division (Purse $2,525) – 1. Stirling Caprice (4), S. Schoeffel; 2. Miss Daisy (3), A. Johnston; 3. TSM Seabiscuit B (2), C. Kreiser; 4. La Soraya (1), B. Brown; 5. Witch N Famous (5), R. Hammer. TIME: 2:05.4.
Margaret Haney Memorial Division (Purse $2,525) – 1. La Fiesta (1), C. Shaw; 2. Showmeagoodtime (4), S. Schoeffel; 3. Yankee Heather (3), A. Johnston; 4. TSM Picassa (2), C. Kreiser. TIME: 2:05.1. Scratches – Tina L (5).
Walter Jackson Sr. Memorial Division (Purse $2,525) – 1. Hopeful Trust (5), C. Shaw; 2. Tuckered Out (2), B. Brown; 3. Sew Psyched (3), S. Schoeffel; 4. Angel‘s Girl (1), A. Johnston; 5. Hopeful Trust (5), C. Shaw. TIME: 2:06.4.
The Progress Division (Purse $2,575) – 1. Allstar Desire (1), C. Kreiser; 2. Ardelle (3), T. Cummings; 3. Katiewhatanecktie (6), A. Manke; 4. Marquis Delafitte (5), S. Johnston; 5. O Maddie May (2), C. Shaw. TIME: 2:04.3. Scratched – Rockin Breeze (4).
Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Colt 2-Year-Old Pace
Lansberry Trucking Division (Purse $2,513) – 1. Ace Rules (3), J. Dodson; 2. Flash Lauxmont (5), W. Long; 3. Spot Lauxmont (2), A. Johnston; 4. Double Lauxmont (4), S. Johnston; 5. Fangled Hanover (1), R. Hammer. TIME: 2:07.
Legends Sports Bar Division (Purse $2,513) – 1. Mcartic Ocean (3), A. Johnston; 2. Bootstrap Yankee (2), W. Long; 3. Bwitchingtheshark (4), C. Shaw; 4. Gambler Lauxmont (1), B. Brown; 5. Voiceover (5), C. Kreiser. TIME: 2:04.1.
Mary Hainsey Memorial Division (Purse $2,513) – 1. Spy The Lie (3), S. Schoeffel; 2. Striking Desire (5), A. Manke; 3. Economic Upturn (2), C. Shaw; 4. Tyranny (1), B. Brown; 5. Money Guns Lawyers (4), C. Kreiser. TIME: 2:04.
Jay Master Memorial Division ($2,513) – 1. TSM Wulf Poof Toof (5), A. Johnston; 2. Heat Of A Dragon (1), S. Schoeffel; 3. Wellsaidandone (2), R. Hammer; 4. Quick Dale (3), B. Brown; 5. Mint Twist (4), A. Manke. TIME: 2:06.2.
Crawford Williams Memorial Division ($2,563) – 1. Mister Chaos (5), C. Shaw; 2. Bosh Hanover (4), S. Schoeffel; 3. Waitingforthisone (2), R. Hammer; 4. Its New In Georgia (1), B. Brown; 5. Cloud Burst (3), J. Dodson; 6. TSM Wulfi T (6), C. Kreiser. TIME: 2:04.2.