PEMBERVILLE — There is nothing like a hunch when betting on a horse, and for Wood County residents, Stony Ridgetop must have created a stir in the eighth race at the Wood County Fair Monday.

The only issue is Stony Ridgetop has nothing to do with Stony Ridge, Ohio. That doesn’t mean Wood County racing fans can’t support him on a hunch. Especially when his owner, trainer, and driver is a harness racing local legend from Pemberville.

John A. Konesky III found Stony Ridgetop in Pennsylvania, not in Stony Ridge, and he does not even know for sure how the horse got its name.

Konesky does admit it may have been part of the reason he was attracted to him, but a lot more goes into purchasing a horse than liking its name.

“I don’t know any of the circumstances of the breeders naming him,” Konesky said. “I’ve lived in the Eastwood area all my life, things like that, and I used to go to the Stony Ridge Quarry when I was in high school, but that was a long time ago.

“This horse, his sire is Wishing Stone, and so I’m sure that is how they kind of put everything together. Maybe they had a farm named Stone Ridge, I don’t know.”

Owner, driver, and trainer John Konesky III poses with his harness racehorse Stony Ridgetop in the stables before their race on Monday at the Wood County Fairgrounds in Bowling Green. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Sentinel-Tribune)

Stony Ridgetop is also by Ruffleshaveridges and Tom Ridge, so it adds up. But Konesky, who turned 75 on Monday, has been in the business 60 years, so he knows a good thing when he sees it.

“I bought him out of a yearling sale almost three years ago now, and he was already named,” Konesky said.

“The reason I was attracted to him is because I always wanted a horse from that sire, but most of them were a little bit on the small side, and I kind of thought, ‘If I could find one that was a decent size, a bigger horse, that I would try to buy him.’

“And, I saw this horse, and we did our homework beforehand on his heritage and stuff like that, and when I saw him for sale, he kind of stood out for me, and I brought him home,” Konesky said.

“I think the main thing was the sire and the Stony Ridge thing, that is kind of a local thing, so maybe.”

Dave Chamberlin Trot

Stony Ridgetop went up against three other trotters in the $2,900 purse Dave Chamberlin Trot Monday, finishing second.

One week earlier, he came up just short of a track record at the Seneca County Fair in Tiffin, and this year he has three wins, two seconds, a third, two fourth places and missed placing twice. Lifetime, Stony Ridgetop has 17 wins in 28 starts.

“He’s big, strong, and very athletic. He’s still growing a little bit, but I’m sure he’s right at 16 hands,” Konesky said.

Konesky, whose farm is on Alexander Road, began his involvement in the harness racing industry as a teenager. He is a third-generation trainer in a business started by his grandfather and handed down to his father and uncles.

Konesky received his license to race at the age of 18, but like family members before him he has made his involvement in the industry a full-time vocation. Although his father only trained, John III has been active in every facet, but admits the majority of his time is still spent training.

He is a past president of the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association and has been a director for about 40 years. The family influence at a young age was too much for him to resist, although he is slowing down in his senior years.

“I don’t do it, what I call, full time anymore,” Konesky said. “I do it because I like it, and he’s (Stony Ridgetop) the only one I’m training right now.

“I started out with three. I’ve got a couple yearlings and one of them wasn’t fast enough and the other one had some issues with bone development, so we just turned her out for the rest of the year, and we’ll bring her back next year.

“I just do it because I like it, I get my horse fix and I’m in reasonably good physical condition. I’ve always thought that horses are like an incurable disease. Once you get them in your blood it is kind of hard to get rid of it.”

Konesky says he appreciates the beauty of the animals, but even more importantly, their athleticism. He’d like to see others appreciate that, too.

“What I’d like to have them develop is an appreciation for the animals and the competition and things along that line,” Konesky said.

“The horses are athletes, equine athletes and just like human athletes they need a lot of training to build up their physical strength, endurance, and speed.”

Going with the percentages

At the pinnacle of his career, Konesky had as many as a dozen horses under his tutelage, and he knows how to find and train a winner.

“I’ve always been a percentage guy, for me personally and my horses,” Konesky said.

““I’ve got one here right now, that I just retired here on my farm, who won 69 races, was in the first three about 70% of his lifetime starts and made about a quarter of a million dollars before purses are up where they are now. He was very consistent.”

Konesky’s family also had farms on U.S. 23 east of Pemberville and he once procured a stable at the former Raceway Park in Toledo, which he regrets has closed. Besides the county fairs, he still races at Ohio’s pari-mutuel tracks.

“Unfortunately, Raceway Park is gone, and it is really kind of a sad thing for the area. We didn’t really get much help from Columbus,” Konesky said.

“My opinion of our leaders in Columbus is Northwest Ohio is important to them on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

“The gaming companies own the tracks now and there is too much money, and when there is a full-blown casino in Toledo, Ohio, they can’t support two gaming operations in a city the size of Toledo, but it would be nice if they had something in the Lima area or somewhere between there.

“Somewhere that is a little closer because my closest pari-mutuel track is two hours away, and the two that have the most lucrative purses are Scioto Downs and the one in the Miami Valley, but those are two and a half hour drives, if you are lucky, with traffic. It could end up being 3½ hours, which is horrible.”