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<p>Boogie Shuffle will have to beat the best 3-year-old pacers in North America to win Thursday&#8217;s $590,400 Little Brown Jug, and owner Bob Tambur wouldn&#8217;t want it any other way.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what sports are all about,&#8221; said Tambur, who grew up in the area and owns Shavertown&#8217;s Fox Hollow Farm, which bred and races Boogie Shuffle. &#8220;You want to be there. The fact you&#8217;re there, that you&#8217;re one of the better horses in the country, that&#8217;s big.</p><p>&#8220;I never dreamed I&#8217;d get to the Jug. But here we are. I&#8217;m a lucky guy.&#8221;</p><p>Boogie Shuffle brings a three-race win streak, and four wins in his past five starts, to the 72nd Little Brown Jug at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in central Ohio. The eight-horse field also includes Fear The Dragon, the No. 1-ranked horse in harness racing&#8217;s Top 10 poll, and No. 3 Downbytheseaside.</p><p>&#8220;If you want to be a top horse you&#8217;ve got to race against the best,&#8221; Tambur said. &#8220;Now we are racing against the best.&#8221;</p><p>The Little Brown Jug is the third jewel in the Pacing Triple Crown. Huntsville, who was not entered in the Little Brown Jug, won the first, the Cane Pace, and Downbytheseaside won the second, the Messenger Stakes.</p><p>Downbytheseaside and Fear The Dragon are both trained by Brian Brown, who is based at the Delaware County Fairgrounds. Brian Sears will drive Downbytheseaside while David Miller, who with a win can equal the record of five Little Brown Jug victories, will be behind Fear The Dragon.</p><p>Scott Zeron will drive Boogie Shuffle for trainer Mark Harder.</p><p>Boogie Shuffle began this season with a win and four third-place finishes in his first five races. In his next four races, though, he finished no better than sixth. It was discovered the horse was suffering from stomach ulcers and his recent return to top form followed treatment for the issue.</p><p>His three-race win streak includes the $252,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship Sept. 3 at Harrah&#8217;s Philadelphia. Boogie Shuffle won the event in a career-best 1:48.2.</p><p>&#8220;Even when he was sick, he was trying,&#8221; Tambur said. &#8220;Mark kept saying the horse is a good horse. He knew there was something wrong; it was just a matter of figuring it out and getting the horse right. It was very frustrating. But Mark never gave up on that horse, nor did Scotty.</p><p>&#8220;Those two guys stuck with me. I give both those guys a lot of credit; a lot of character there.&#8221;</p><p>Tambur, whose business ventures include a financial company and real estate development, got started in harness racing a little more than two decades ago. He is looking forward to his first trip to the Little Brown Jug.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m in it for the dream,&#8221; Tambur said. &#8220;When you breed a horse on your farm and you raise him and he goes out and does well, I get a big kick out of it.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve got a lot of good races ahead of us. I&#8217;m optimistic, but we&#8217;re racing with the best of them.&#8221;</p><p>Right where he wants to be.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Boogie Shuffle, a product of Fox Hollow Farm, has a chance to deliver a marquee victory for owner and Harding native Bob Tambur on Thursday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_Boogie-Shuffle-Mark-Hall-photo-1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Boogie Shuffle, a product of Fox Hollow Farm, has a chance to deliver a marquee victory for owner and Harding native Bob Tambur on Thursday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Mark Hall | Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Ken Weingartner</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div>

NEPA-raised horse gets a shot at harness racing’s Little Brown Jug