Mother, Son Claim Emotional Wins at Effingham Co. Fair

Pam Coleman with family and friends celebrates her victory in Amateur Driving championship behind Josting Jack.

ALTAMONT -- Kyle Husted came down to compete in the Effingham County Fair harness races and set a different kind of record on Thursday's final day of harness racing.

Husted, who has been racing in Chicago, guided Duneside Life to a victory in the Filly/Mare Pace, going wire-to-wire in 2:03 3/5. That made Duneside Life the first horse of any breed to take three victories in three different programs at the Effingham County Fair in one week. Dunewide Life had a three length lead most of the way and held off a drive by Uneek down the homestretch finishing the last quarter in 28.1.

Duneside Life won Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Then it was time for his mom to shine. Pamela Coleman, driving in the last race of the day, the Amateur Driving Race, gave the crowd something to really cheer about. Coming back from her battle with cancer, she had to win another battle, this one with a field of five horses.

Altamont's Coleman took Josting Jack to the early lead but her sister, Angela Coleman, behind Perfectly Clear, was having none of that as she took the lead by a length. The Coleman sisters duked it out and Feel My Pain crept up to move into second. Josting Jack then had to fight off the challenge and ended up winning by 1 1/2 lengths in 2:01.2.

Coleman was decked out in pink in honor of her battle against breast cancer. The top three drivers in the race, the Coleman sisters and Jackson Loy are all graduates of Altamont High School.

When asked if he was nervous for his mother, Kyle Husted said, "Absolutely. It was very nerve-wracking. She's the toughest person I know and it means a lot because six months ago she was on a ventilator."

"I was maybe a little choked up," said Coleman. "My mind was in a dark place during the cancer but hopefully this shows everyone fighting cancer that you can get through it."

Pam Coleman, behind Josting Jack, wins the Amateur Driving championship ahead of second place finishers Feel My Pain with Jackson Loy.

Cam Majic Shooter captured the second race, the Filly/Mare Pace. Cornelius Cavettt, who trains Cam Majic Shooter, also drove to a one length lead at the half and finished out with a half length victory over Queen Beatrice who gave it her all on the homestretch. Cam Majic Shooter won in 2:05, going 28 seconds in the final quarter.

Little Ms Aryss made the Non-winners $1,000 Lifetime Trot, Also Eligible 2-Year-Old Non-winners 2 Races, look easy. Henry Brown of Mississippi took Little Ms Aryss to the early lead quickly going ahead by five lengths. At the half, Little Ms Aryss had a nine length lead and finished out winning by 15 in 2:06.3.

Little Ms Aryss won at the Coles County Fair Wednesday for her first career victory. Barn's And Bar's broke stride at the start of the race but that was due to broken equipment. J.D. Finn is the trainer while his son Jared Finn was the driver.

Newton's Jared Finn came up with the win in the fourth race, the Non-winners $1,000 Lifetime Trot. Finn, behind Jungleland, took the early lead by two with Lofty and Blake Ellie going offstride. Jungleland was looking for its first career victory and claimed that with a 1 1/2 length win in 2:09.4.

According to announcer Kurt Becker, Finn is one of over 40 members of the Finn family in over 72 years who have raced at the Effingham County Fair.

The fifth race had a lot of interesting happenings. If Urlips Rmoving was first away with the rest of the field single file behind. Amazing Perch moved up to second and there was a battle side-by-side with the leader. If Urlips Rmoving ended up fighting off the challenge with driver Dennis Bankston for the victory in 2:06.4.

Darla Martin Lohman's horse, Susan Sage, stumbled on the final turn and almost went down but Lohman managed to keep her seat and kept the horse upright.

Michael Rogers picked up his sixth career driving championship at the Effingham County Fair. He was the reigning champion and had 42 points going into race five. He is now third all-time winningest driver at the fair with 47 victories.

Effingham County Fair

Thursday's Harness Racing Results

Race One

Filly/Mare Pace

Purse: $580

1. Duneside Life (Kyle Husted), 2. Uneek Shuttle (Dakota Birch), 3. Little Warriorette (Donald Gibson), 4. Gale Force Lexie (Randall Finn)

Time -- :31.4, 1:03.4, 1:34.2, 2:02.3.

Race Two

Filly/Mare Pace

Purse: $580

1. Cam Majic Shooter (Cornelius Cavett), 2. Queen Beatrice (Darla Martin Lohman), 3. Yankee Road (Dakota Birch), 4. Miss Marple (Dennis Bankston)

Time -- :32.2, 1:05.1, 1:37, 2:05.

Race Three

Non-winners $1,000 Lifetime Trot

Also Eligible: 2-Year-Old Nonwinners 2 Races

Purse: $580

1. Little Ms Ayrss (Henry Brown), 2. Barn's And Bar's (Jared Finn), 3. My Spitfire K (Rodney Freese)

Time -- :32.1, 1:03, 1:35.2, 2:06.3.

Scratched -- Pretzel Power.

Race Four

Non-winners $1,000 Lifetime Trot

Also Eligible: 2-Year-Old Nonwinners 2 Races

Purse: $580

1. Jungleland (Jared Finn), 2. Unkept (Michael Rogers), 3. Lofty (Ray Hanna), 4. Blake Ellie (Rodney Freese)

Time -- :33.4, 1:05.3, 1:38, 2:09.4.

Race Five

Non-winners $1,000 Lifetime Pace

Also Eligible 2-Year-Old Non-winners 2 Races

1. If Urlips Rmoving (Dennis Bankston), 2. Amazing Perch (Michael Rogers), 3. Dark Dune (Henry Brown), 4. Susan Sage (Darla Martin Lohman)

Time -- :32.1, 1:05.2, 1:37.3, 2:06.4.

Race Six

Amateur Driving Race

Purse: $600

1. Josting Jack (Pamela Coleman), 2. Feel My Pain (Jackson Loy), 3. Perfectly Clear (Angela Coleman), 4. Hillcrest Dynamite(Raymond Morgan), 5. Forest Raider (Anthony Simone)

Time -- :30.3, 1:01, 1:32.1, 2:01.2.

Michael Rogers accepts the driving championship awards from Speed Superintendent Dean Wetherell at the Effingham County Fair Thursday.