Track records set at Honesdale (PA)

HONESDALE PA – After capturing six races on the last day of harness racing at the Clearfield (PA) County Fair on Wednesday, Team Shaw was right back in business on Sunday at the Wayne County Fair in Honesdale PA on Sunday, rewriting both three-year-old pacing track records at the northeast Pennsylvania half-miler on a day where each of the eight contests for Fair Sire Stakes sophomores (including the four trots) came home in 30 or less.

 

The aptly-named Star Of Terror continued to spray-paint his name into the Pennsylvania record tables, as he won a 1:59.1 division of the three-year-old colt pace, last quarter 28 flat. The Western Terror gelding, driven by Chris Shaw (who had three sulky successes on the day) and trained by his brother Jason for Fortunate One LLC, recorded his 4th magic mile on the Keystone twicearound circuit (only fellow 3PC Dragon Strikes, at two, also has more than one of the 13 so far recorded), and the lowering of K T Beaner's 2003 mark by 3/5 was his third divisional track mark, also tops, and including the 2:00.2 equaling of the all-age Butler standard. (A final shoutout to K T Beaner, though, as his name leaves the recordbooks after thirteen years and one day: his 1:59.4, which stood as the all-age track record for several years, was one of the few record miles you'll ever see achieved over a track officially rated "slow"!)

 

Last year's winningest two-year-old pacing filly in North America was Unbeamlieveable, with 13 visits to Victory Lane (all at fairs), and the daughter of Moon Beam continues to show her love for the PA fair circuit by pushing her summer's tally to 7-5-2-0 with a triumphing in 2:00.4, scampering home in 28.4. Chris and Jason again teamed here, with Jason's 4YO son Mason adding to that huge college scholarship fund as owner, as Unbeamlievable (who surprisingly set no track records during 2015) reduced the old mark by 3/5 – that record was set in 2013 by Wicked Elphaba, who was driven that day by a two-time North American UDR champion you may know better these days as a trainer and a "sire" of drivers, Erv Miller.

 

Mention should be made of the Dragon Again filly Devious Behavior, trained and driven by Kevin Lare for owner Frank Chick, who won the other division of the 3PF in "only" 2:04.4 – but with a last quarter of 27.3! Devious Behavior remained undefeated after six starts at the PA fairs.

 

Stars on the trot were the filly A Little Laid Back, who won here in 2:04.2 for her third straight victory and fourth at the fairs for owner/trainer/driver Roger Hammer, and the colt Bombardier, who upset recent Bedford trot recordsetter OMG Hanover in 2:04.3, with Chris Shaw driving for owner/trainer Steven Mullen – his first-ever training victory.

 

The two-year-olds will take center stage at Honesdale tomorrow at 2 p.m., and then the state fair circuit "splits" – Honesdale will host a special "two-day Sire Stake event," as specified by state law, on Wednesday and Thursday, while 358 miles to the southwest the Greene County Fair in Waynesburg will conduct its fair meet on Tuesday and Wednesday.