Rains alter harness racing fair slate

Rearranging county fair racing dates and venues has become commonplace this summer in Indiana as untimely rains have altered plans. This past week some make-up racing took place at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds in Goshen, and local connections were represented.
Charlie Conrad, son of the late Donnie and Roselea Conrad, formerly of Corydon, had several horses racing Tuesday in Goshen. Conrad’s three stellar 2-year-old pacing fillies all picked up checks, with Primo Extremo placing second in her race in 2:03:4, Play to the Crowd finished fourth in her race in 2:06:1, and All About Kathy finished fifth in her race in 2:10:0. On the colt side of the program, Conrad piloted Carribean Cruise to a second-place check in 2:04:4.
Another make-up program was in Kentland on Friday, and Conrad had one 2-year-old trotting colt, Egregious, go postward. He finished fifth in a hotly contested race.
At Hoosier Park this past week, several local horses competed on the Anderson oval. On Tuesday night, in an Indiana Sire Stakes Elimination race for the Third Leg of ISS action for 2-year-old fillies, John Spotten tried his luck with Auntie Sue but could do no better than ninth in a brisk 2:03:4 against a good field of freshman female trotters. On Wednesday morning, trainer Simon Girod of Salem, who works his horses training miles at the Harrison County Fairgrounds in Corydon, sent out two horses for qualifying races. The 3-year-old pacing filly Northern Salina, owned by Hayswood Farm of Corydon and Alvin Walther of Lanesville, continued her rapid summer improvement posting a time of 1:56:2 for the mile, with a last quarter in 27:3. She will be entered in a race for maiden fillies and mares as soon as one becomes available. Girod’s freshman colt, Jailhouse Jack, also looked good trotting his qualifier in 2:01:0 with a last quarter in 28:3.
Last Wednesday night at Hoosier Park featured Leg 3 of ISS action for the fastest horses on the grounds, the 3-year-old pacing colts. After winning his Leg 2 elimination race in 1:51:1 and qualifying for the final of that Leg, Conrad’s horse Skyway Quinton could do no better than eighth place in Leg 3 with a time of 1:50:4, which knocks him back to the Leg 3 Consolation race. The winner of Quinton’s race, Always A Prince, paced the mile in 1:48:4, which is not only a new Hoosier Park track record for 3-year-old geldings, but also a season’s best by any horse that age so far this summer in North America.
In another elimination for 2-year-old pacing colts in Leg 2 of their ISS series, Rockin TJ, owned by Pennsylvania interests but born and raised in Harrison County on the Walther farm south of Lanesville, could do no better that sixth place with a time of 1:53:0. That was TJ’s second life-time start; his third will come in the Leg 2 Consolation next week.
The only other local competitor at Hoosier Park last week was Conrad’s Topville Alleyrock, who finished seventh in his race in a time of 1:56:2.
Outside of Indiana, in the $50,000 Free for All pace at Running Aces racetrack in Minnesota, Lanesville native To the Limit finished third in a time of 1:51:2. The 6-year-old son of Alvin Walther’s fine mare, Hoosier Vacation, is now owned by California interests, who saw this finish push his life-time earnings over $135,000. A yearling son of Hoosier Vacation is slated to sell in October at the Hoosier Classic Yearling Sale in Indianapolis, at the state fairgrounds sale pavilion.