The 2022 Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes Championships will be held Friday, October 7th at the Meadows Racetrack, the culmination of the busy fair circuit season that began in June.
A two-day event kicked off the action at the Butler Fair and continued with exemplary racing at the York Fair in June. In July, racing headed to Stoneboro, the Lycoming County Fair, Bedford Fair, Silver Springs Ranch, and July ended with a four-day meet at the Clearfield County Fair.
August brought more excellent racing, with the action shifting to Honesdale and the Wayne County Fair; followed by meets in at the Arden Fair in Washington; the Dayton Fair; Somerset County Fair; Crawford County Fair; Indiana County Fair; and August wrapped up with a two-day event at the Wattsburg Fair in Erie County.
As September and the cooler weather made its way to the area, Gratz Fair held a two-day meet for two consecutive weekends, followed by a two-day event in Columbia County at the Bloomsburg Fair. Mother Nature threw a monkey wrench into the final two-day event at the Crawford County Fair in Meadville, which was canceled due to the track condition and severe weather.
It was an eye-popping 1:56.3 win by the Betting Line gelding Aladdin Hanover at the Lycoming County Fair in July, though, that had everyone on the fair circuit buzzing. The Jason Shaw-trainee Aladdin Hanover has earned $22,875 in Sire Stakes earnings and finished in third place in the final standings going into the finals.
“He’s a nice horse,” Jason said. “He got lucky that day. They went some fast fractions, and he picked up the pieces. He always tries. He’s kind of a ‘trip’ horse versus being on the front-end. He kind of likes the trip better than whacking it out.”
It’s been a busy season for the trainer, who has 24 horses in his stable. Between racing full-time at the Meadows, where he’s based, and in the Sire Stakes on the fair circuit, he also had a trotting filly racing in New York, and two three-year-old trotting colts in the Stallion Series. “It was a long summer,” he laughed.
Aladdin Hanover qualified on Monday in 1:56.2, home in 28.4, and Jason was happy with the effort. For the Pennsylvania Fair Final, he drew post 3, and will face Todd Schadel’s C-Bet Hanover and Buchannon Hanover; the Linda Schadel-trained Ivy Stud; Dancethewayuare, trained by Gary Johnston; and Brandon Presto’s Honali. Jason also has Myartblongstorock in the final.
As for the draw, Jason remained noncommittal. “He drew okay. We will see how it plays out.”
Driver Jack Killeen will be on the bike once again and is confident in Aladdin Hanover. “I think he can win, for sure! Post 3 is pretty good, but it will be hard. It’s not inside, but hopefully, I can follow those two around there (C-Bet Hanover and Buchannon Hanover), and they’ll take me far enough. I’m not too worried about post position because I can stick close, and there’s always a lot of room at the Meadows at the stretch.”
Jack grew up in Dublin, and developed his love of horses from his father. Working as a blacksmith, he drove in races at Portmarnock Raceway and made his way to the United States in 2018. The rest, as they say, is history.
He started regularly driving at the Meadows, but it was recently, though, that he saw a career surge. “I was in Florida all winter, and I took off for a couple of months, and I hooked up with Jason around the end of June. From there, my career basically has just taken off. I’m driving like six or seven a day at the Meadows right now. Like, I’m ‘one of the guys’ right now,” he laughed.
“It doesn’t even feel like I’m going to work every day when I’m going to the Meadows,” he said happily. “Sometimes I’ll have a couple in, and I have to stay until the last race, and it doesn’t even bother me. It’s an awesome place. I’m glad I made the move back there after traveling. I probably went to every harness track in the U.S., and I finally found my way back to the Meadows.”
It will be an exciting night, for sure, at the Meadows on Friday! Post time for the 2022 Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes Championships is 5:10pm, with live streaming and FREE PP’s available at www.meadowsharnessracing.com.
