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Charitable impact made by trotter
jtuscano@observer-reporter.com
On a seven-hour vacation bus trip through the wilds of Alaska, Bill and Renee Bercury struck up a conversation with Scott and Patrick Price.
The father-son duo was on a 50-state tour and the excursion was a little more daunting because Patrick Price, Scott's son, has spina bifida - a developmental birth defect that results in an incompletely formed spinal cord - and confined to a wheelchair.
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Bercury was so impressed with the Prices that he decided to help. Bercury purchased a trotter, named him Good Will, and vowed to donate a percentage of the horse's winnings to battle spina bifida.
"I thought it was a good name for our horse," Bercury said. "I wanted to do something to help so I decided to give 10 percent of the horse's winning to this organization."
In five starts, Good Will has finished in the money four times, winning once and placing once. The first-place finish came last Tuesday at The Meadows. Good Will has produced $13,000 in winnings.
"When I told the Prices what we were going to do, they were pleased," said the 65-year-old Bercury. "They live in Nashville and we hope to race a horse in Kentucky, which is close. We hope they can come down."
The Prices profiled 101 people in their book, released in 2006 and on sale at their Web site: www.lookingforgoodwill.com
"We decided to take a single year and travel the entire country, visiting every state in search of goodwill," the Prices say on their Web page. "We determined to interview randomly selected people from all walks of life and ask them about the good things in their lives."
The Bercury family was impressed. They purchased the 3-year-old Good Will at the Adios Day auction for $6,500. The Bercury stables three race horses - Good Will, Keystone Samantha and Real Yankee - on their farm in Slippery Rock.
Bill Bercury has been in horse racing for 30 years.
"My first date with my (future) wife was to the Meadows," Bill said. "I wanted to impress her so I bought a horse. We went from knowing nothing to having a quarter-mile track on our farm."
Meadows telecasts
The switch to afternoon racing was one of the reasons Horse Racing TV decided to discontinue broadcasts of The Meadows harness racing in Western Pennsylvania.
John Marshall, general manager of The Meadows, said other options are being explored but no announcements are imminent.
Afternoon racing at the track began with the construction of the gambling parlor last summer. The demolition of the grandstand left the track without a way to maintain lighting for night races.
HRTV has gained access to such high-profile tracks as Aqueduct and Churchill Downs for afternoon racing.
The Meadows telecasts are still being shown at about 200 locations, including all Off Track Betting parlors across the country. HRTV's decision took The Meadows' racing program off cable networks.
Adios update
The construction at The Meadows also forced the move of the Delvin Miller Adios to Pocono Downs this summer. The Aug. 9 race will be telecast at The Meadows and the other OTB parlors across the country.
Eliminations will take place Friday, Aug. 1 at Pocono Downs, a 5/8-mile track in Wilkes-Barre. This marks the first time in the 32-year history of the race that the eliminations and final will be held on different dates.
As he has done in the previous 32 Adios, Roger Huston will call the race.
The Adios will return to The Meadows in 2009.
