WILKES-BARRE, PA — In Focus, piloted by provisionary driver Jim Takter Jr., won the Open I Handicap Trot Tuesday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.
It was young Takter’s second lifetime victory in five starts.
In Focus, the five-year-old SJ’s Photo gelding left from the one hole in the seven-horse field and sat second behind BigPepper (George Napolitano Jr.) with the opening split in 27 seconds and half in 57.
Takter tipped out and soon became the new leader down the backside with the three-quarters clicked off in 1:24.4. In Focus was a winner in 1:54.2. Second by a head was a fast closing Dennis (Andrew McCarthy) with third-place going to Grain Of Truth (Tom Jackson), only a quarter of a length back.
Farifant, piloted by McCarthy and trained by Anette Lorentzon, captured the Open II Trot with a time of 1:54.4.
This marked the third win in a row for Farifant at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.
Second to Farifant was Stand Guard (Napolitano Jr.), three lengths back with Badboy Paparazzi (Mike Simons) third.
There also was an Open III Trot on the 16-race card with that winner being P J Clark (Jim Morrill Jr.). P J Clark stopped the timer in 1:54 followed by Broadway Paige (Matt Kakaley) and All About Justice (Simons).
Laura Shock trains P J Clark, a winner for the sixth time in 19 starts in 2010.