The 157th edition of the Great Darke County Fair in Greenville, Ohio is going out with a bang Friday night with the second edition of the Gene Riegle Memorial Pace.
Take It Back Terry headlines the quality field of eight open pacers looking for the lion’s share of the $20,000 purse.
Take It Back Terry is coming into Riegle Memorial off a victory in a 'winners over' event at the Meadows and has $227,867 in career earnings and owns a mark of 1:50. The four-year-old son of Western Terror will have the services of the all-time North American leading driver, Dave Palone. The native of Western Pennsylvania has won nearly 16,000 career racings and has driven his mounts to more than $114.4-million in career purse earnings.
Take It Back Terry’s chief competition should come from Lookinforadventure. Jim Arledge Jr. trains the five-year-old gelded son of Rocknroll Hanover for the Green Acquisition Corp of Canfield, Ohio. Lookinforadventure has earned $434,304 lifetime and a record of 1:51.1.
The pacing track record of 1:54.4 set by Prince Sheldon N in 2002 is certainly in jeopardy. The field of eight’s average lifetime mark is 1:51.2 and has amassed a combined $1,641,834 in career earnings.
The $20,000 Riegle Memorial was made possible thanks to the support and sponsorship of Brittany Farms, the Ohio Harness Horseman’s Association, Remington Steel, the Darke County Harness Horsemen’s Association, Dave Knapp Ford Lincoln and Horse Gold.
The Riegle Pace undercard will feature the $13,450 (div) Parshall Futurity for two-year-old pacers and the $8,500 Parshall event for three-year-old trotters.
“We are very grateful for the support we have received from the sponsors, the horsemen and the Darke County community,” noted Tim Harless, director of Racing for the Darke County Fair. “We are very much looking forward to a great evening of racing and the opportunity to honour a pair of great horsemen in Doc Parshall and Gene Riegle.”
Closing night will feature a Gene Riegle commemorative mug giveaway to the first 1,000 fans buying a racing program.
First-race post time for the 10-dash card is 7:00 p.m. If you can’t make to Greenville in person, all of the racing action can be heard live on WTGR 97.5 FM or online at wtgr.com.
(Great Darke County Fair)