October arrived with wet weather and cold temperatures across much of the Northeast, and Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs wasn’t spared from the dreary stuff. Luckily, that weather didn’t put a damper on any of the great action, as some standout performances were to be found across the five racing programs last week. Here are some of the best of those efforts, honored, as always, by our Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: CINDERELLA GUY
There were several excellent candidates for this award this week, but we’re going with this gelding from the Ken Rucker barn for his excellent performance among the highest levels of the pacing ranks. Cinderella Guy was having a solid season heading into the fall, but he has really picked up the pace as the leaves have begun changing. On September 24, he knocked off a front-running victory over the non-winners of $22,000 pacers, scoring in 1:50:2.
On Saturday night, like the rest of the competition, he had to deal with a relentless rain and a sloppy track at Pocono. In addition, he was stepping up in class to the winners of over $25,000 grouping, a class that is just a notch below the Open pacers. Yet there he was once again on the front end, spurred on by driver Tyler Buter, daring the field to try and catch him.
Well, they couldn’t catch him. Cinderella Guy was just too powerful, hustling home to win by 1 ½ lengths. The winning time of 1:51:3 was hard-earned, especially considering the track conditions. The gelding has earned over $132,000 this year along, and Saturday night’s victory was the 25th of his outstanding career.
Other top pacers this week include: Wahine (Tyler Buter, Tony Alagna), who starred in the Equinox series for 2-year-olds on Thursday afternoon with a win over the pacing colts and geldings in 1:54, his second straight win in the series and his 5th victory in 7 lifetime races; Forever Ivy (Matt Kakaley, Charlie Norris), who ripped off her third straight win by taking the featured fillies and mares pace on Wednesday night in 1:51:4; and Stonebridge Tonic (Anthony Napolitano, Mark Ford), whose Open win on Saturday night in 1:50:3 gave him five straight wins at four different tracks.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: MACHO LINDY
Back in 2008, before the era of blistering times at Pocono, Macho Lindy came out one afternoon in a condition trot and blew the field away to the tune of 1:52, which at the time was the fastest mile ever trotted on a 5/8-mile oval in North America. Even now, three years later, only a few miles faster have ever been trotted at Pocono, and Macho Lindy’s time still stands as a track record for 4-year-old geldings.
He has continued to have success in the interim, and a few weeks back he returned to MSPD after spending much of the summer at Chester. His first start back on September 23 was over before it began when he made a rare break. On Friday night, Macho Lindy, now in the Ron Coyne Jr. barn, found himself in the featured winners of over $25,000 lifetime trot.
Leaving from post position #7, the 7-year-old veteran gunned to the front end under the guidance of driver George Napolitano Jr. Once there, the old Pocono muscle memory kicked in, and he held up against intense pressure. Macho Lindy came out on top by a neck in 1:54:3 over a top-flight field. No records broken this time around, but it was, nonetheless, a scintillating return.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Pembroke Prayer (George Napolitano Jr., Mark Ford), a shipper from New York who scored in Friday night’s other division of the winners of over $25,000 lifetime class, doing so in 1:54:4; Groom Hanover (Joe Pavia Jr., Fred Grant), who followed up a win at The Meadows with a condition win at Pocono on Friday night in 1:57:2; and Ashcroft (Mike Simons, Gail Wrubel), whose claiming win on Wednesday was his second straight upset victory and came in a career-best time of 1:56:1.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: WINDELL WINKIE
The shipper came into a condition trot on Friday night with 4 wins in 9 starts in 2011, yet he was still a 35-1 shot when he rallied for the victory, paying out $73.20 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: GEORGE NAPOLITANO JR.
George has been keeping a particularly hot pace of late, as he ripped off multiple wins in several cards this week, highlighted by a five-bagger on Friday.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: LINDA SCHADEL
Year in and year out, Linda does an excellent job with the trotters. She scored two trotting wins on Thursday, including an Equinox series victory with Keystone Tempo.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at jbeviglia@mohegansunpocono.com.