After adroitly avoiding an offstride Ontario Success early in the backstretch, Sparky Mark, driven by Simon Allard, went on to his second straight victory at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, taking the $24,000 featured pace at the mountain oval on Saturday, July 25,  in 1:50.
Ontario Success had put up early numbers of 26.2 and 55.3, with Sparky Mark on his back. Driver Anthony Napolitano kicked out the horse’s earplugs coming off the second turn, but the pacer misreacted and went offstride, moving to the outside as Napolitano looked for clearance and hollered out about his problem. Allard and Joe Pavia Jr., guiding first-over Blatantly Best, reacted well in concert with Napolitano, with Allard going inside the runner and Pavia going wide as Napolitano kept his offstride charge between the pair.
From there, Sparky Mark had it relatively easy, storming home in 54.1-27 individually to win by 2 1/4 lengths over Blatantly Best, who was able to retuck in the pocket after the trouble. The son of Astreos, trained by Simon’s brother Rene, continues to get closer and closer to a seven-figure lifetime bankroll, with his lifetime total now at $953,556.