Bedford PA --- The 2-year-old pacer Gordo astonished the racing fans at the Bedford (PA) Fair on Monday afternoon (July 28) when he scorched to a 1:57 victory in a Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes event.
Gordo missed both the all-time Bedford track record and the national season’s record for age, sex, and gait by only two-fifths of a second. Driver Steve Schoeffel sent Gordo right to the front and blitzed amazing fractions of :28.2, :58.2 and 1:26.2 en route to the sensational victory.
A son of McArdle out of the Blissfull Hall mare Blissard Of Oz (who had only one winner in four living foals pre-Gordo), the fast freshman was bred by Perretti Farms.
For driver Steve Schoeffel, the circuit’s leading driver and trainer, it was his fifth visit to Victory Lane on the day (but first with a pacer), all five of whom come from his own barn. His wife Kathy had her fourth winner of the day with Gordo, and co-owner Lander Stables LLC got their third.
The other two winners in the sections of the FSS 2-year-old colt pace had a distinctly hometown flavor.
In the first, R N Nate paced in 2:00.2, which would be a divisional track standard for about 30 minutes, for breeder-owner-trainer-driver Roger Hammer, perhaps the best-known citizen of Bedford in harness racing. And in the second, Sam Beegle, PHHA president and a state wrestling championship finalist when attending his native Bedford High School, paraded back Modern Yankee after a 2:01.3 triumph.
Two impressive freshman fillies paced home first in their Fair Sire Stakes cuts. Keystone I Wish was first up, and she went the first 2:00 mile of the local fair season when she won in even time for trainer/driver Todd Schadel. Her clocking shaved two seconds off the previous divisional track mark co-held by Keystone Trixie and Keystone Haden -- a tribute to the Hempt Farms’ “Keystones,” which are still producing winners. Schadel is co-breeder of Keystone I Wish with the Estate of George Hempt Trust.
The other filly winner, Tropical Terror, kept her distinction intact: she has now won at all seven stops to date on the circuit, here in 2:02.1 for driver Chris Shaw, trainer Jason Shaw and owner (and 2-year-old himself) Mason Shaw.
The Schoeffel barn sent out four of the five winners in Fair Sire Stakes freshman trotting competition, including the new track record holder for trotting fillies, Mooksie, who lowered the old mark 5-2/5 seconds with a 2:02.1 tally, more than three seconds faster than any of her colt counterparts trotted today.
Also a winner was Missive, in 2:05, for the same ownership as Gordo.
The Schoeffel pupils winning the colt events were Police Navidad, fastest of the victorious trio in 2:05.3, and the unusually-bred Shark Gesture trotter out of an Artsplace mare and Chiney Babco, who has now won six on the trot, here in 2:07.2.
Trainer-owner Boots Dunn and driver Chris Shaw sent out 2:06.3 winner King Karma to break up a total Schoeffel sweep.
The track was rated “slow” throughout the card.
Finishing Lines: The first race of the day was a Quaker State trot, and the only two entrants were from the Syl King Stable, so it was not really shocking to see a final time of 2:27.4& -- which, by the way, grouped with Gordo’s 1:57 mile produced a :30-4/5 variance from fastest to slowest mile on a card. It was not a record for Western Pennsylvania as just about 29 years ago, Marauder won his heat of the 1985 Adios in 1:52.1 and then, when Nihilator did not return for the final, took the trophy by walking over in 2:27.4, for a :35-3/5 variance.
The 3-year-olds take to the track at Bedford on Tuesday at 11 a.m.