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Bloomsburg, PA---The final stop of the 2014 Pennsylvania fair season staged the first phase of its harness racing action on Thursday and Friday, with Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes the features over the half-mile oval in this northeast Pennsylvania town. (This Tuesday and Wednesday, the time-honored Bloomsburg Stakes will ring down the final curtain on this year’s circuit.)


In a season where pacers had dominated the headlines heretofore, the Fair Sire Stakes here saw the trotters take center stage, with all four divisions of the diamondgaiters posting the fastest clockings of the fair circuit for age, sex, and gait. (A certain two-year-old pacing filly also got her name on that list, too, but more on her in a moment.)


The sophomore trotting gelding Millertown Road put it all together Friday over the track where he trains, going wire-to-wire in 2:00.2, last quarter 28.3, to post the summer’s fastest trot mile over the Pennsy twicearounds. The son of Malabar Millennium took the faster division of his event by defeating Faust, who had held the season’s record, for driver Steve Schoeffel, trainer Jim McGettigan, and owner Edward McGettigan Jr. Other winners in this class were Fly Past Hanover, giving driver Schoeffel 2/3 of this section with his 11th win of the year, and Mr Weaver, who won his last eight Fair Sire Stakes starts en route to nine triumphs on the season.


Earlier, the filly Hearts Content had matched Faust’s 2:00.4 trot mark for 2014 with an exciting wire-to-wire victory over an onrushing Cantabs Lightning in the fastest 3TF cut. Racing on the lead as is her wont, the daughter of SJ’s Caviar opened a big enough margin that her major rival couldn’t catch her as Hearts Content tallied for driver Roger Hammer and the Dunn Stable of trainer Walter “Boots” Dunn.


A day earlier, driver Steve Schoeffel still had his name next to the fastest 2TF, but it was the Muscle Massive miss Missive replacing Mooksie on the top of the charts after a 2:01.4 triumph. Schoeffel also trains Missive, who led all the way for owners Kathy Schoeffel and the Lander Stable LLC.


Two trotting geldings both went in 2:04 to set the standard for baby trotting males. First up was The Master, with Steve Schoeffel earning himself another line in the 2014 record books by sulkysitting behind the Glidemaster gelding for trainer Syl King Jr. and owner Mahlon Martin. Fifteen minutes later, the SJ’s Caviar gelding Music Man De Vie wrote his name alongside that of The Master by matching his time for driver Marc Mosher and trainer/lessee Clifton Green while defeating Schoeffel’s Police Navidad, who is still tied for most wins by a baby trotter in North America with 10.


The one pacer posting a PA fair season’s mark was the winningest two-year-old in all of North America, the Western Terror pacing filly Tropical Terror, who ran her remarkable record to 17-15-2-0 with a 2:00 victory for Team Shaw – driver Chris, trainer Jason, and owner Mason. The 2:00 equaled the clocking of Keystone I Wish, who has hung the only two defeats on Tropical Terror – and who finished behind “TT” Thursday after a fierce duel the last quarter.


Team Shaw’s 2PG Nippy won for the 14th time of this season earlier in the card, putting him second in victories among all U.S./Canadian freshmen. Also worth a mention is Ruffle Up, a sophomore Real Artist gelding who posted the fastest clocking of the meet, 1:59.3, in winning Friday for owner/trainer/driver Roger Hammer; Ruffle Up had three magic miles this summer, while no other horse could post more than one.


A report on the Bloomsburg Stakes will follow this Wednesday’s action, and a summary of the entire 2014 fair season will be issued shortly after that sending.