Delaware County Fair: S I P sizzles to world record mark

The stakes action on Little Brown Jug day at the Delaware County Fair began with a world record, as S I P won the $88,600 Old Oaken Bucket for sophomore colt and gelding trotters in 1:51 2/5, becoming harness racing's fastest-ever 3-year-old trotter on a half-mile track.

Driven by Joe Bongiorno, S I P blasted to the top from the pole position, led through splits of 28 2/5, 56 2/5, and 1:24, and sprinted home in 27 2/5 to win by open lengths over Famous Father (Andy McCarthy). Fiftyfour K (Yannick Gingras) and Quincy Market (Matt Kakaley) were the other horses in the race, but they both made breaks and weren't in contention.

"I drove him last week in Lexington and the horse was super. In Lexington obviously there's no Lasix, but today he was able to get his Lasix back," said Bongiorno. "Even without it in Lexington he raced super last week, he just had too much ground to make up. We raced him barefoot here today, and he's just such a nice horse.

"Here's a horse that interferes some when he's got his shoes on. He's getting better and stronger where he doesn't interfere as much anyway, but when you take the shoes off, he's like a Cadillac. I was just a passenger today."

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Ron Burke trains S I P, a Bar Hopping colt bred by Kentuckiana Farms and Hatfield Stables. Hatfield Stables also co-owns the seven-time winner and earner over $400,000 with Burke Racing Stable, Brixton Medical Inc., and Weaver Bruscemi LLC. S I P paid $2.80 to win.