Oct 21, 2015 | 50th anniversary of racing, Racing
The red-hot George Napolitano Jr. broke his own record for most driving victories in one season at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono when he guided Monopoly Blue Chip to victory in the 13th race of the Tuesday night program, his seventh win of the night and more importantly his 348th of the racing season at The Downs, eclipsing his old standard set in 2004.
Napolitano started the night with 341 Pocono wins, and dashed home first in the fourth race, then as good as put his head down and said, “Let’s get this over with” and proceeded to win the 7th, 8th, 9th, 11th, and 12th races before setting the record in race 13. And would there be a better-named horse, given his domination of the winners circle earlier, to break the record than Monopoly Blue Chip?
Napolitano will soon be able to post a “magic number” on how many wins he needs to mathematically lock up the title for the Pocono meet, which has 14 cards to go, as at press time he has a 348-210 victory edge over second-place Simon Allard (who got the winner in race 10, between GNap’s consecutive triples). The win crown will be “George Nap”‘s fourth straught at Pocono and ninth all-time, the latter number giving him the all-time outright lead in driving win titles locally, as he and Bill Lambertus both won eight dashwinning crowns prior to this season.
Having posted a possibly-unprecedented 366 wins since July 1, Napolitano has thrust himself in contention for the North American win crown, a title he took in 2010. Aaron Merriman and two-time dash defending champion Ron Wrenn Jr., both based at Northfield presently, had been running 1-2 throughout the season before George came into contention, and a check of the Northfield results for Tuesday at press time had these seasonal totals: Merriman 680, Napolitano 675, Wrenn 654.
One final note: regular Pocono announcer Jim Beviglia, who has called the vast majority of George Nap’s victories here this year, was not available on Tuesday and thus did not call the record win, but he may take some consolation from the person who did: Mike Bozich, announcer at Harrah’s Philadelphia and mikeman for the vast majority of Napolitano’s 301 wins there this season.
Oct 21, 2015 | 50th anniversary of racing, Racing
October 9-15, 2015
After the last vestiges of summer flickered across the Northeastern Pennsylvania landscape early last week, more typical autumnal weather started to move in at the end of the racing week. Regardless of the weather, cold or hot, sloppy or clear, you can always count on racing at The Downs at Mohegan Sun to be of the highest caliber, and this week was no different. To prove it, let’s hand out some Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: FANCY DESIRE
It’s never too late to turn a season around, or at least salvage something positive from it. Consider the example of Fancy Desire, a 4-year-old mare from the barn of trainer Daniel Renaud. As a 3-year-old in 2014, she was outstanding, earning over $300,000. Yet her four-year-old season seemed like a lost cause by comparison; going into her start at Pocono on October 2, she had just two second-place finishes to show for her 21 races with nary a win.
That all changed that night against an excellent $24,000 distaff condition field, as she rallied late with George Napolitano Jr. in the bike to win at 8-1 in 1:52:1 in sloppy conditions. With George Nap unavailable on Friday night, Anthony Napolitano took the assignment aboard Fancy Desire against the same condition, also in the slop. And, changing strategies, A-Nap sent the mare to the front end early.
While the heavy favorite Stacia Hanover labored a bit in the wet conditions, Fancy Desire looked confident on the engine. In the stretch, only Handsoffmycupcake was a threat from the pocket, but she could only get within a length at the line. With a winning time of 1:52:2, Fancy Desire now has two straight victories after her 0-for-21 start to the season. There’s still a month or so left in the Pocono meet and a month more after that till the end of the year, so there’s no telling what kind of damage she’ll do now that she has found her stride.
Other top pacers this week include: Scott Rocks (George Napolitano Jr., Chris Oakes), who reeled off his second straight condition win, this one coming in Saturday night’s feature in 1:50:1; Modern Day Clyde (George Napolitano Jr., Chris Oakes), who ripped off his third straight claiming victory on Saturday night in 1:52:2; and K Ryan Bluechip (Simon Allard, Joe Pavia Jr.), a three-year-old filly who scored her second straight condition win on Tuesday night, this one in a career-best 1:49:4, and has now won the last four times she’s raced at Pocono.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: GJ PHOTO VICTORY
What a season it has been for this 7-year-old gelding with the mouthful of a name. Going into a $12,500 to $15,000 claiming handicap trot on Friday night, GJ Photo Victory had notched 13 victories in 31 races this year. A good chunk of those victories came right here at Pocono, and, aside from a little mid-season slump, has been a threat to win just about every time he leaves the gate regardless of the competition or the post position.
In recent weeks, GJ Photo Victory has been on fire. He came into Friday night’s race with victories in his last two starts for trainer Dean Eckley. Unlike those last two wins, however, Friday night’s contest saw him shuffled to the middle of the pack early, putting his winning streak in jeopardy. Driver Jim Morrill Jr. decided on a relatively early three-wide move to get the front.
You don’t win as many races as GJ Photo Victory has this year without proving that you can handle a little in-race adversity. As the 2-1 second choice in the race, he worked his way to the front with the wide move and held everyone else at bay from there. The winning time in the slop was 1:56. That makes 14 wins this season, three in a row, and just another example why this horse has to be kept in mind when we hand out the Pocono yearend awards in a few weeks.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Soboro Hanover (Matt Kakaley, Nifty Norman), a 3-year-old gelding who won Tuesday night’s featured condition trot in 1:54:4, giving him two straight victories; Drama Free (Simon Allard, Chris Oakes), who picked up his second straight claiming victory on Friday night, doing so in the slop in a career-best 1:55:1; and Ray Hall (Simon Allard, Rene Allard), whose condition victory on Saturday night came in the week’s fastest trotting time of 1:52:4.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: GLAMMIT
His name may sound like a curse word, but folks were shouting it in celebration after this pacer with Joe Pavia Jr. driving surprised a condition field at 29-1, paying off $61.60 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: JOE PAVIA JR.
Joe had his finest night of the season in the slop on Friday night, churning out five wins, of which only one went off as the race favorite.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: ROBERT BRESNAHAN JR.
Bresnahan won with the only two starters he sent out on Saturday night, a pair of New Zealand-breds who paid off at nice odds: Mr Franklin N at 10-1 and Benjamin Banneker N at 9-2.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Oct 12, 2015 | 50th anniversary of racing, Racing
October 2-8, 2015
We are heading into the home stretch of the 2015 racing season at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. October 9 is our last Friday card of the racing season; after that, racing will take place every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday night until the completion of the meet on November 21. But that doesn’t mean that the season is going out gently. On the contrary, this edition of the Weekly Awards will showcase some performances and performers that would be notable no matter what time of year it is.
PACER OF THE WEEK: FIRST OF ITSKIND
After dry weather and fast tracks for almost two months straight at Pocono, the past week or two has brought some rainier nights and sloppy conditions. Some horses, for whatever reason, seem to thrive when the skies open up. Based on evidence from this past week, it seems that you can safely place First Of Itskind, a 4-year-old gelding trained by Brandon Todd, in that category.
On September 29, First Of Itskind faced an $11,000 condition group and a sloppy track. With Marcus Miller in the bike, he uncorked a late move to rally for a win in 1:51:1, which was a career-best even in the slop. He was back at it on Saturday night for his second race in a five-night span, only this time he moved up to face a $16,000 group. But the track was sloopy again, so First Of Itskind must have thought to himself, “I can do this.”
With Dan Rawlings in the bike this time around, Firstofitskind had to grind it out first-over on the outside for much of the second half of the mile. Nonetheless he wore down the favorite Humility, finally taking the lead from the pacesetter in the stretch. He then had to hold off fast-closing Cadillac Phil, which he did by a nose in 1:51:4. Don’t be surprised if you see the connections of First Of Itskind doing a rain dance the next time he’s scheduled to race.
Other top pacers this week include: Mach It So (Andrew McCarthy, Jeffrey Bamond Jr.), the standout five-year-old who followed up big-stakes wins at Mohawk and Harrington with an Open win at Pocono on Saturday night on a good track in 1:49:4, the fastest pacing time of the week; Brees Creek (George Napolitano Jr., Chris Oakes), who moved up in class on Saturday night to capture his second straight condition win, this one coming in 1:52 in the off-going; and Frost Damage Blues (Mike Simons, Tom Fanning), a 3-year-old filly who now has seven straight wins to start her career, the last two of which were at Pocono, following a condition win on Wednesday night in 1:51:3.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: MR CANDYMAN
You all know the saying about not fixing something that’s ain’t broke. It certainly seemed like that could have applied to Mr Candyman as he headed out to face a claiming handicap field on Friday night. After all, he had beaten the same class of $7,500-$10,000 claimers in each of his previous two starts, giving him three wins in his last four overall.
In each of those victories, all of which were achieved with Simon Allard in the bike, the 6-year-old gelding sat back off the early pace and trailed all the way into the stretch. That’s when he made his moves for the previous victories. On Friday night as a 1-5 favorite, Allard chose to change the tactics and Mr Candyman was hustled to the lead just shy of the half-mile marker after a first-over move on the front stretch.
Whether Allard wanted to remove the chances of running into traffic somewhere or he just felt that there was no need to hold his horse back, the decision proved to be a winning one. Mr Candyman kept extending his lead until he came home four lengths in front on the sloppy track in 1:55:4. It was his biggest margin of victory in his recent hot streak, proving that this trotter is going to be tough to beat these days no matter how he chooses to conduct his race.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Southwind Warsaw (George Napolitano Jr., Michael Dowdall), whose condition trotting win on Tuesday night in 1:53:1 was not only a career-best time but also the fastest trotting mile of the week at Pocono; Hasty Profitt (Joe Bongiorno, Robert Bongiorno), who stepped up in class on Tuesday night and picked up his second consecutive condition victory, this one in 1:55:3; and Black Broadway (Jason Bartlett, Michael Eaton), a 2-year-old filly who won her second straight to start her career, this one coming in a career-best 156, on Wednesday night.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: POINTSMAN
After several straight near-misses, this gelding trained and driven by Joe Pavia Jr. surprised a bunch of condition pacers on Saturday night at 17-1 for a $37 payout on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: MIKE SIMONS
Mike scored a driving double on Friday with mid-priced horses on his way to a four-win week as the longest-tenured driver at Pocono continues to rack up the victories.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: CHRIS OAKES
With training doubles on back-to-back nights, it was a particularly effective week for Chris, one of Pocono’s elite trainers year in and year out.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Oct 12, 2015 | 50th anniversary of racing, Racing
Driver George Napolitano Jr. and trainer Chris Oakes combined for a sweep of the pacing features Saturday night, October 1oth, at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, with Scott Rocks a pocket rocket in taking the $26,000 pace in 1:50.1 and Luck Be Withyou controlling the pace to report home first in 1:49.1 in a $24,000 event.
Napolitano left hard with Scott Rocks, an altered son of Rocknroll Hanover, forcing a pocket tuck from Lonewolf Currier, then surrendering the front to the brushing Bushwacker past the 27.1 opener. Bushwacker continued on the engine with middle fractions of 54.4 and 1:22.4, and held gamely through the drive, but “George Nap” guided Scott Rocks to the famed “Pocono Pike” passing lane, and wore down the frontstepper by midstretch, posting a neck triumph for the ownership of Susan Oakes and Chuck Pompey; Major Uptrend charged hard late to be a close third.
Luck Be Withyou continued to show his affinity for the Pocono red clay surface, having won the 2013 Breeders Crown two-year-old colt pace and the 2015 Ben Franklin Final against top-level competition. The son of Western Ideal then had a dull patch of form, enabling him to drop down in class, and Saturday he took his third straight win on the comeback trail, moving to the front after Somethinginthewind blew to the quarter in 26, putting up 54.1 and 1:21.4 middle splits, and staying strong with a 27.2 last quarter, winning by 2 1/2 lengths for owner John Craig.
In a $24,000 trot, Ray Hall, who ascended to the top levels during the Weiss Series in the spring of 2014, showed that he might prove a worthy rival to his 2015 “successor,” JL Cruze, ringing up his second win in three starts since being acquired by Team Allard (driver Simon and trainer/brother Rene, also co-owner with Giselle Hebert). The Justice Hall gelding stayed off a wild early duel (25.4, 53.4) between Somebody As and Modest Prince, moved up to a great second-over spot by the 1:23 3/4 marker, then easily outtrotted his rivals home, tallying by 1 1/2 lengths over deep Pikeshooter Doc’s Tebow in 1:52.4.
Pocono now shifts to a 3-night-a-week live schedule, with the trotters and pacers under the lights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays until the meet’s end on November 21.
Oct 8, 2015 | Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Gaming, Holiday, Keystone Grand Ballroom, Racing, Special Events
Halloween tricks and treats on Friday, October 30th and Saturday, October 31st
WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 8, 2015) – Show your Halloween spirit all weekend at Mohegan Sun Pocono, with ghoulish harness racing, mischievous costume parties, wicked nightlife events and more!
Boo Bash
Come as you aren’t! Boo Bash is back on Friday, October 30th in the Keystone Grand Ballroom starting at 7:00pm. Grab your best ghoulish getup, superhero tights or angel wings and enter the costume contest for the chance to win the grand prize of $1,000.00 and other great cash prizes. Indulge in the Boo Bash featured drink special, Mali Boo!, and party to live music from The Chatter until Midnight. Hang around for a spell when Boo Bash is over and haunt on over to Breakers until 2:00am to groove to the sounds of Gas Station Disco.
$75,000 Spooktacular Giveaway
There are no tricks, only treats in Mohegan Sun Pocono’s $75,000 Spooktacular Giveaway on Halloween! From Noon to 5:00pm on Saturday, October 31st, two Momentum members each hour will win $250.00 cash. At 7:00pm one lucky guest will win $50,000.00 cash and 50 more will win at least $450.00 in Free Slot Play. It’s simple to play—get one entry for every Status Point earned from October 1st though October 30th, then activate entries on Saturday, October 31st from 2:00pm to 6:00pm at any kiosk to be eligible to win.
Live Harness Racing with The Grey Ghost And Poltergeist Pace
Have a fang-tastic Halloween evening at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono starting at 6:30pm with The Grey Ghost and Poltergeist Pace. This pace is exclusively for grey and roan horses where they will compete in this ghostly race, led onto the track by the Headless Horseman. The winner will be presented with a trophy by children in costume in the ghoulishly delightful Winners’ Circle.
Live Entertainment
On Halloween night, get your scare on at Elixir’s Halloween party starting at 9:00pm with live music from Jimmy & Vitz, head to Bar Louie for a Halloween celebration featuring Fake Uncle Jack starting at 9:30pm or creep over to Breakers to enjoy the sounds of Shorty Long & The Jersey Horns starting at 9:30pm.
For complete information on all events at Mohegan Sun Pocono visit their website.
ABOUT MOHEGAN SUN POCONO:
Mohegan Sun Pocono, owned by the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut, is one of the most distinctive and spectacular entertainment, gaming, shopping and dining destinations in Pennsylvania. Situated on 400 acres in Plains, Pennsylvania, Mohegan Sun Pocono features a 238-room hotel with on-site spa and adjacent 20,000 square-foot Convention Center. It is currently home to 82,000 square feet of gaming space including 91 live table games, 2,300 slot machines and electronic table games, a variety of dining and shopping options, nightlife, entertainment and live harness racing. Mohegan Sun Pocono is within easy access of New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware. More information is available by calling 1.888.WIN.IN.PA (1.888.946.4672) or visiting our website. Connect with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, download our app and view us on YouTube.
Oct 2, 2015 | 50th anniversary of racing, Racing
September 25-October 1, 2015
Now that the month of October is upon us, we have entered the final quarter of the racing season at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. And after an incredible stretch of pleasant weather, we also saw our first sloppy track in quite some time. Nonetheless it was still an interesting, intense week of racing at Pocono. To recap, let’s hand out some Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: LUCK BE WITHYOU
In July of this year, Luck Be Withyou managed one of the most memorable victories of the season at Pocono, overcoming an incredible field of some of the world’s top pacers and an outside post to win the Ben Franklin Pace. It was a sentimental kind of victory for the Pocono faithful, since driver George Napolitano Jr. and trainer Chris Oakes, both Pocono regulars for many years, won this huge race on their home track.
Luck Be Withyou spent much of the rest of the summer months racing at Mohawk in Canada, where he didn’t have quite the same level of success. When he returned to Pocono and the Oakes barn, he did so on September 19 at the $20,000 condition level. Once again he got stuck with the outside post, but he had no problems, rolling on the front end to a four-length win in 1:49:1.
The 4-year-old gelding was back at it in the same group on Saturday night, only this time from the friendly confines of a #3 post position. As the 1-9 favorite, he controlled the pace on the front end. He was briefly challenged late by Fort Knox, but Napolitano was having none of that, coaxing more late out of Luck Be Withyou. Nobody could hang with him in the stretch, and he won by a length-and-a-half in 1:50. It’s nice to see Luck Be Withyou back and at the top of his game at his favorite track.
Other top pacers this week include: Art’s On Fire (Simon Allard, Rene Allard), whose claiming victory on Saturday night in a career-best 1:49:4 was the fastest pacing time of the week at Pocono; Preparty (Simon Allard, Rene Allard), who moved up in class to score his second straight condition pacing win on Saturday night, this one coming in 1:51:2; and The Summer Wind (Jim Marohn Jr., Gregory White), who won Wednesday night’s featured distaff condition pace as a 24-1 long shot in 1:51.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: BOFFIN
Boffin has experienced the extremes of harness racing his past few times out. Two starts ago in a $24,000 condition trot at Pocono, the 5-year-old gelding from the Anette Lorentzon barn used an excellent trip for a victory in 1:53:4. Last week he tried out on Open trotting group, only to go off stride early in a race in which the mare Daylon Miracle set a record.
On Saturday night Boffin was back at it in the $24,000 condition group with George Napolitano Jr. in the bike. The pace was set by the veteran Proud Moment, who set some daring fractions on the front end. That pace repelled the horses who wanted to come up on the outside, but Boffin once again had the pocket seat as he did two races ago, putting him in prime pouncing position.
Proud Moment, as he has been all year, was game, but he caved at the top of the stretch and Boffin took over. He exploded through the lane and easily held off race favorite Ray Hall by 2 ¼ lengths. What was most impressive was the winning time of 1:51:1, a career-best, fastest of the week and one of the fastest this year at Pocono. Boffin may be riding some ups and downs of late, but he certainly hit a spectacular high on Saturday night.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Mr Candyman (Simon Allard, Clifton Green), who overcame an outside post on Friday night to win his second straight claiming handicap, matching a career mark of 1:55 in the process; Gray N Cloudy (Simon Allard, Rene Allard), who chalked up his second straight win over the $11,000 claimers on Friday night, this one in 1:54:1; and My Way The Highway (George Napolitano Jr., Leigh Raymer), a 3-year-old filly who followed up her maiden win by moving up to handle a condition group on Tuesday night in 1:56 in the slop.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: VERDAD
It’s hard to believe a horse of this caliber could ever get away at 50-1, but he did on Saturday night and, with Joe Bongiorno in the bike, won a condition pace to pay off $105.40 for a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: GEORGE NAPOLITANO JR.
In the midst of another big week, George captured his 300th win of the meet at Pocono, the eighth time he’s managed that feat; no other driver has ever picked up 300 wins in a season at Pocono.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: ANETTE LORENTZON
It seemed like everywhere you turned last week, another Lorentzon trotter was doing damage, as she picked up the big win on Saturday with Boffin and then two more training victories on Tuesday.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
