CLEARFIELD — Like Ol’ Man River, Roger Hammer just keeps rolling along.
The popular Bedford harness racing driver-trainer-owner, who registered a milestone 4,000th win in May, is showing no signs of slowing down at age 69 when it comes to competing against much-younger drivers on the Pennsylvania Fair Circuit.
Hammer capped another Clearfield County Fair meet driving title with his eighth win in the penultimate race Wednesday afternoon and then returned to the front of the grandstand about a half hour later to receive the Charles “Buster” DiSalvo Trophy for the 12th time.
As usual, he received a warm reception from admiring Driving Park fans who stuck around for the presentation by DiSalvo family friends Sam and Jody Yost.
Asked by Progress Sports Writer Rich Murawski if winning the only driving trophy on the fair circuit ever gets old, Hammer chuckled, “No, but you’ve got to dust them all the time,” as he clutched the hardware after walking down the track.
Fair racing has been in Hammer’s blood ever since his father, Clay, took on the circuit when he said he was about seven years old. He was 16 when he won his first race at the Clearfield County Fair.
“I like the fairs,” he said. “I’ve made a living out here.”
Now, Hammer prefers the fair circuit over the raceways for his young trotters and pacers, primarily because of the teaching aspect.
“You really can‘t teach at the race track, because you make a break or two you‘ve got to re-qualify,” he said. “Here, you can race them week after week, plus you don‘t burn ’em up as much because you don‘t have to go as fast.
“At the race track, you’ve got to have them on their toes all the time. And, after a while, some of them get brave and some of them get sour and don’t want to go at all.”
“Todd (Schadel) and I usually race all our horses out at the fairs for a while and then take them back to the race track. It seems like they’re stronger. They’re braved up from winning. If you get beat at the raceways all the time, you take the heart out of a horse. Just like an athlete, he gets beat up enough he loses his will to fight.”
That philosophy is proving true again this summer for Hammer, who is leading the fair circuit with 40 wins.
He owns half of this week’s winners and co-owns two others that he trains, including one with Schadel.
“I’ve got four good, nice two-year-old trotters,” he said, adding that two of his three-year-olds also are proving to be very good so far.
One of the sophomore standouts is R N Nate, a brown gelding that scored in 2:01.3 to earn the Bob Schucker Memorial Division cooler blanket in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Colt Pace Wednesday.
Starting from second tier, Hammer and R N Nate were fourth out of the gate and still third at the quarter pole. Then, Hammer made his move and had R N Nate a nose behind Shawn Johnston-driven John Paul as they went by the half in a blistering 59.3 seconds.
R N Nate took command and was 12¾ lengths ahead of Schadel and Mckee Hanover when he went under the wire for his seventh win of the year and 15th in 28 lifetime starts, increasing his earnings to $87,112.
His time was the fastest dash of the week, but that stood only until Brady Brown drove Royaltyhasarrived to victory in 2:01.1 in the four-day program’s final race, the James Flanagan Navy Memorial Division of the PASS Colt Pace.
The win was the third of the day for Brown, who saw Schadel and Moonshine Road go by at the quarter pole before quickly reclaiming the lead and racing to a 6¼-length victory.
Royaltyhasarrived is a brown gelding owned by Virginia and Kathy Schoeffel of Evans City and Michael Munn of Alden, N.Y., with nine wins this year and 12 in 29 lifetime starts. His purses have totaled $64,532.
Brown took contrasting routes to victory lane with Clear Winner in the Brooke Erin Yeager Memorial Division of the PASS Filly Pace and EJ and Orr in the Violet Lansberry Memorial Division of the PASS Colt Pace.
Clear Winner was fourth at the half as Chris Shaw controlled the pace with Quickstartmyheart, but Brown had the bay filly owned by Fred and Seth Dowling of Port Royal second behind Schadel and Keystone I Wish at the three-quarter mark.
He took Clear Winner outside in the stretch, and she got up to win by a head in 2:04 to boost her earnings to $38,187 for 28 starts, 10 of them victories.
Brown had EJ and Orr on the lead after trailing James Dodson and Let’s Go around the first turn, and the bay gelding owned by Walski Stables LLC of Transfer responded with a 2:03.1 trip for a two-length victory, his third of the year after a winless freshman season.
Aaron Johnston made it a 2-2 daily double by sweeping the two Quaker State races with Frat Rocus Betty and Misty’s Best.
Frat Rocus Betty, owned by Julie Krenitsky of Butler, and Hammer’s Rustlercafe staged quite a duel throughout the Backstage Crew Division and were separated by a half-length at the exciting finish.
Winless in 12 previous races, Frat Rocus Betty established a mark of 2:05.1.
Johnston and Misty’s Best grabbed the lead in the Jeffrey “Niter” Hamilton Memorial Division by charging past Dodson and Oh One Koorz Lite down the backstretch before the quarter pole and went on to score in 2:04.1, winning by 2½ lengths.
The win was the fourth in 30 races for the bay gelding, which has returned $26,260 for Dr. William J. Solomon of New Freedom.
Chris Shaw, the lone driver with a chance to overtake Hammer for the DiSalvo Trophy, could managed just one win.
Tropical Terror relinquished the lead, briefly, to Brown and Ivory Coast at the three-quarters pole but was in front by the top of the stretch and held on for a quarter-length win in 2:04.1 in the Charles “Chick” Young Memorial Division of the PASS Filly Pace.
Jason Shaw, Chris’ brother, trains the good bay filly for his four-year-old son, Mason, and she now sports 21 wins in 27 lifetime stars and $68,176 in purses.
Harold Brocklehurst drove Betterthanrevenge, owned by the Thomson Sisters Racing Stable of Exton, to a two-length victory in 2:05.1 in the PASS Filly Pace Margaret Haney Memorial Division.
The bay filly’s sixth win in 18 times behind the gate increased her earnings to $21,865.
Brandon Givens, who didn’t return Wednesday, was runner-up to Hammer with five wins, one more than Shaw, Brown and Aaron Johnston.
Schadel (3), Brocklehurst (2) and Shawn Johnston (2) also were multiple winners, while five drivers visited the winner’s circle one time.
The four-day meet showcasing many of the best two-year-olds and three-year-olds on the fair circuit attracted 182 entries for 36 races that had purses totaling $107,583.
QUAKER STATE THREE-YEAR-OLD PACE
Backstage Crew Division (Purse $1,330) – 1. Frat Rocus Betty (2), A. Johnston; 2. Rustlercafe (4), R. Hammer; 3. Amber Eyes (1), L. Smeal II; 4. Wontyoutakemyhand (3), G. Town. TIME: 2:05.1.
Jeffrey “Niter” Hamilton Memorial Division (Purse $1,330) – 1. Misty’s Best (2), A. Johnston; 4. Tsm Starquest (4), S. Johnston; 3. Spark of Fire (1), W. Lineweaver; 4. On One Koorz Lite (3), S. Johnston. TIME: 2:04.1.
PENNSYLVANIA SIRE STAKES THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY PACE
Brooke Erin Yeager Memorial Division (Purse $3,896) – 1. Clear Winner (1), B. Brown; 2. Keystone I Wish (5), T. Schadel; 3. Quikstartmyheart (4), C. Shaw; 4. Vicki on the Beach (2), R. Hammer; 5. Tsm Jasmine (3), A. Johnston. TIME: 2:04.
Charles “Chick” Young Memorial Division (Purse $3,946) – 1. Tropical Terror (1), C. Shaw; 2. Ivory Coast (2), B. Brown; 3. Crumcake (5), S. Johnston; 4. Baby You a Song (6), T. Schadel; 5. Big Bottom (4), R. Hammer; 6. Fiesta Lauxmont (3), A. Johnston. TIME: 2:04.1.
Margaret Haney Memorial Division (Purse $3,946) – 1. Betterthanrevenge (1), H. Brocklehurst; 2. Sandslittledragon (6), C. Shaw; 3. Keystone Mai Way (3), A. Johnston; 4. SB Kilawatt City (5), S. Johnston; 5. Medoland Jewel (4), B. Brown; 6. Joltstheice (2), B. Krenitsky. TIME: 2:05.1.
PENNSYLVANIA SIRE STAKES THREE-YEAR-OLD COLT PACE
Violet Lansberry Memorial Division (Purse $3,915) – 1. EJ and Orr (1), B. Brown; 2. Let’s Go (4), J. Dodson; 3. Marshmallow Pulse (5), C. Shaw; 4. Clearnbreezie (3), R. Hammer; 5. Tsm Mr Mcoo (2), A. Johnston. TIME: 2:03.1.
Bob Schucker Memorial Division (Purse $3,915) – 1. R N Nate (5), R. Hammer; 2. McKee Hanover (4), T. Schadel; 3. John Paul (3), S. Johnston; 4. Dinger Three (2), J. Dodson; 5. Nippy (1), C. Shaw. TIME: 2:01.3.
James Flanagan Navy Memorial Division (Purse $3,965) – 1. Royaltyhasarrived (2), B. Brown; 2. Moonshine Road (4), T. Schadel; 3. Given Up Terror (1), C. Shaw; 4. SB Beachboy Wonder (6), A. Johnston; 5. Dinger Four (5), J. Dodson; 6. Shark hart (3), S. Johnston. TIME: 2:01.1.