When the field for the $10,000 Trent Bates Memorial at the 166th Mercer County Fair on Sunday, Aug. 12 stepped out onto the track, there was an expansive and excited assemblage that watched in awe. A lot in attendance had gone by Horse Barn No. 1 where Foiled Again had graciously held court before the race and now he was rigged and ready for the battle.
As announcer Doug Ballinger introduced the eight horses and their lifetime achievements, most eyes in the overflow crowd were on the No. 2 horse: Foiled Again. There had never been such an animal that had appeared at Mercer and, for that matter, nowhere else. His program statistics are eye-popping: this was his 317th start lifetime, 100 wins with 68 seconds and 46 thirds, with $7,587,593 earned in his 12 years against the toughest competition in the sport.
Catch-driver Chris Page scored Ron Burke's masterpiece in front of the packed tarmac and brought the two-time Horse of the Year closer for them to see.
The sports world has been graced by Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Joe Dimaggio and Stan Musial. Harness racing has Foiled Again.
When the horses lined up behind the starting gate the fans pressed against the fence two, three deep from the seven-eighths to well past the wire in hopes of seeing another notch in the old man's bat handle.
A mile to remember was as promised when catch-driver Trevor Smith shot Hunchie straight to the top with a quarter in :26 and played catch me if you can with Fred Reed's eight-year-old by No Pan Intended, another veteran with more than 200 starts and more than $275,000 under his belt. Foiled Again and Page sat a distant second as Smith sent Hunchie down the road to a half in :55.
When the Vince Hanna-trainee clipped the three-quarters on top by 10 lengths, most expected him to come back to the pack but Smith kept him rolling. He was all alone at the finish in a new all-time track record of 1:54 that shattered the previous one of 1:56.2 held by Twinspeak and Jack Dailey. Mystical Rock got up for second over Foiled Again.
Amid the applause and cheers that reverberated throughout the packed stands one elderly fan looked around with tears in his eyes, smiled, and said softly: "It seems like old times, doesn't it?"
(with files from the Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association)