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MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon resident Lou Anne Wise often wonders about the men and women training harness racing horses at the Knox County Fairgrounds.
She’s also curious about how many laps the horses run and whether they board at the fairgrounds.
“These horses are beautiful, and I’d encourage others to come out in the morning and watch them,” she wrote.
The horses are Standardbreds. Mornings are spent jogging or conditioning them on the fairgrounds’ half-mile track.
When drivers jog the horses, they go clockwise. For conditioning (training), they go counter-clockwise, in the same direction they race.
The distance ranges from three to six miles, depending on whether the horse is being jogged or trained.
In harness racing, Standardbreds race at one of two gaits: pacing or trotting. The fairgrounds is the year-round home to around 60 Standardbreds.
“There are four major stables, and three or four part-time, recreational-type owners and trainers here,” Linda Ebersole of Ebersole and Sons Racing Stable said.
Linda and her husband, Jeff, board nine.
They also have three brood mares, several foals, and three retired horses at their Morrow County farm in Chesterville.
The couple has pacers and trotters and has been at the fairgrounds for 10 years.
“I’ve been in this my whole life,” Linda said. “It’s been a lifelong adventure for both of us.”
Linda and Jeff’s parents owned horses, but Linda and Jeff own, breed, and train them.
The Ebersoles’ sons, Highland High School graduates Luke and Logan, followed them into harness racing as drivers. They often drive for their parents.
“The oldest is the top driver at Northfield. The youngest is starting his racing career,” Linda said.
Hagerman Racing
Hagerman Racing boards and trains 40 horses at the fairgrounds.
A 15-year racing veteran, Herman Hagerman earned his 1,000th career win earlier this year.
“I used to always do riding horses, standardbreds under the saddle, but I’ve always liked racing,” he said. “I got in with someone else first, and then started doing it on my own.”
Hagerman’s team trains 30 to 35 horses every day.
“We usually start around 7 a.m., and we’re done by 12 or 1:00,” the Kidron resident said.
Hagerman and his wife, Morgan, breed and train pacers and trotters. They race across Ohio.
Occasionally, Hagerman drives the horses, but for larger events, he uses other drivers.
“We have a bunch of 2-year-olds making their debut this year. We’re pumped,” he said.
Originally from Virginia, Hagerman still pastures retired horses on his Virginia farm.
“It’s a lot of work. It’s seven days every week,” he said of his vocation. “There’s no day off. But it’s rewarding, too, if you put the time in.”
Kurt Lepley Stables
Gambier resident Kurt Lepley spends about 2.5 hours a day at the track training his 3-year-old colt Rainrock.
When the pacer races, Lepley turns him out to pasture on Sunday and Monday. Rainrock’s most recent race was a fourth-place finish at Scioto Downs on July 13.
Lepley has a 22-year history of working with harness racing horses. He started through the Doug Rine family, another local harness racing family. As a middle schooler, he would help the Rine family clean stables.
“Eventually, I ended up getting my own horse,” Lepley explained.
Lepley breeds his own horses and has a couple of broodmares on his farm.
He has driven a few times but said he usually leaves that to the professionals.
“It’s a very time-consuming hobby,” Lepley said. “It’s hard. But it gets into your blood, and it is hard to get out of it. You hope to have that one horse . . .
“In this sport, the highs are very high and the lows are very low,” he added.
Lepley noted a horse can run well one week and have a sore ankle or other ailment the next.
“It can change just like that,” he said.
The world record for a pacer is 1:45.4. Lepley said 1:49 is typical locally, with the average pacer running 1:54 to 1:55.
Lepley’s colt Rainrock raced about 10 times as a 2-year-old and has around nine starts this year.
“He likes to come from behind. If those horses are in front of him, he’ll go after them,” Lepley said.
Friendly connections
Originally from Tennessee, Elizabeth Tolley moved to Michigan and started training horses. She has trained standardbreds since the spring of 2021.
She and her family moved to Ohio in January due to the Michigan race tracks shutting down.
Tolley has 10 horses at the fairgrounds: one 6-year-old trotter (Mr. Match On Beach) and nine pacers. The pacers range in age from 6 to 12 years.
She has one broodmare that Herman Hagerman trained as a 2- and 3-year-old. The mare is stabled on Kurt Lepley’s farm.
Tolley’s husband, David, worked with Hagerman when his Michigan construction job shut down during the winter. The families knew each other because Tolley’s Tennessee home was near Hagerman’s Virginia farm.
Like the other trainers, Elizabeth Tolley spends countless hours at the fairgrounds. She usually arrives at 6:30 or 7 a.m.
“I’m here until noon,” she said. “Some days it’s 2:00.”
Tolley said most horses race at least once a week.
“Twenty-five to 35 races a year is average,” she explained. “Some horses race 42 times.”
The training remains the same during the winter, but Tolley acknowledged it does depend on the weather.
“They probably get more days off than they should, but it’s better to let them stand [in the barn] than take a chance on getting hurt,” she said.
However, a vacation is not in the cards because the horse loses too much conditioning after being off for a week. Tolley learned that firsthand after taking a one-week vacation.
“I raced a week later, but I should have waited another week,” she said.
Tolley acknowledged that the work and schedule are sometimes tough but said, “I’m blessed to be living the dream.”
Harness racing at the Knox County Fair
Post times for harness racing at the 2024 Knox County Fair are 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday. Entry to the fair is free. Following is the lineup for the two cards:
POST TIME 1:00 PM
1. Trot – 3-Year-Old Colt – HTCS . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . Est. $10,000
2. Pace – 3-Year-Old Colt – HTCS . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .Est. $10,000
3. Pace – 2-Year-Old Colt – HTCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Est. $10,000
4. Trot – 2-Year-Old Colt – HTCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Est. $10,000
5. Pace – Free for All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . … . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . $1,000
POST TIME 6:00 PM
6. Pace – 2-Year-Old Filly – HTCS . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . Est. $10,000
7. Trot – 2-Year-Old Filly – HTCS . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . Est. $10,000
8. Trot – 3-Year-Old Filly – HTCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Est. $10,000
9. Pace – 3-Year-Old Filly – HTCS . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . Est. $10,000
10. Trot – Free for All . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,000
“The OHHA sponsors a big portion of the racing here at the fair,” Linda Ebersole said. The Ebersoles will race four horses.
The Hagermans will also race, and Lepley plans to run Rainrock. Tolley will race Mr. Match On Beach in the Trotter Free for All.
Click here for a complete listing of events at the 2024 Knox County Fair.
