Oct 11, 2017 | Racing
October 7-13, 2017
It’s pretty difficult to believe that we are in the final quarter of the racing season here at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. (The warm weather is quite deceiving, because it certainly hasn’t seemed like autumn around here.) It will be soon be time to pick out yearend honors at Pocono, but that can wait a bit. For now, let’s be content to find the finest horses of the past week as we hand out the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: SI SEMALU
This seven-year-old gelding from the Bruce Clarke barn has been a solid performer for much of the season both here and at Harrah’s, but he seems to really be peaking here at the tail end of the meet. On September 30, Si Semalu dropped into a $12,500 condition pace and worked out a trip from an outside post, coming up late for a win in 1:50:1 as a 16-1 long shot. The winning time was a new career-best mark.
On Saturday night, he stepped back up into the $14,000 condition group, a class that had given him problems earlier this season. This was a pretty stacked race, with a field that included million-dollar earner Lucan Hanover as the odds-on favorite. Si Semalu got away third from the #7 post as an 8-1 shot with Jim Marohn Jr. in the bike, while Lucan Hanover called the early shots. The pace was quick and the leader was pressured throughout.
On the home stretch, Marohn had room to nudge Si Semalu to the outside. After saving so much energy to that point, he powered home past a tiring Lucan Hanover and held off closer Sports Bettor by three parts of a length. His winning time was 1:50:3, giving him two straight victories with sizzling times and a lot of confidence heading into whatever comes next.
Other top pacers this week include: Unbeamlieveable (Matt Kakaley, Vincent Fusco Jr.), a mare who overcame an outside post and a barn switch to capture her second straight claiming handicap on Monday, getting it done in a career-best 1:52; Motor City Marco (John Kakaley, Travis Alexander), a three-year-old who rolled on the front end on Sunday to his third straight condition victory, picking up the victory in a new career-best of 1:53:3; and Allstar Partner (Anthony Napolitano, Andrew Harris), whose condition victory on Saturday night in a career-best 1:49 represented the fastest pacing time of the past week at Pocono.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: MONEYDONTBUYULOVE
It has been an impressive streak put together of late by this four-year-old gelding from the Rene Allard barn. He came into a condition trot on Sunday night having won his last four consecutive starts. One of those was at Pocono in a non-winners of three condition group on September 5 on a sloppy track in 1:57. There was also a victory at Saratoga and back-to-back scores at Yonkers amassed by Moneydontbuyulove during the hot stretch.
On Sunday night, Moneydontbuyulove faced his toughest test yet, going up against a noon-winners of five class for a purse of $16,000. The fact that he was stepping up didn’t scare off the bettors, who made him a 1-9 favorite in a short field of six. His toughest competition figured to be from Arch Credit, a three-year-old who was coming off a sharp qualifier and sure enough hustled to the lead.
Arch Credit attempted to set nasty enough fractions to shake the favorite, but even getting to the three-quarter mark in 1:24:4 didn’t do the trick, as Moneydontbuyulove stayed attached. In the stretch, it was essentially a two-horse race, and Moneydontbuyulove utilized the passing lane to make his play for the lead. With Simon Allard in the bike, he glided by to beat Arch Credit by 1 ¾ lengths. For the icing on the cake, his fifth straight victory came in a new career mark of 1:54:1.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Catch A Mission (Jim Marohn Jr., Erv Miller), a mare who followed up a win at Harrah’s with one at Pocono in a condition on Sunday night in 1:53:4, which was the fastest trotting time of the week; Silvermass Volo (Mike Simons, Michael Holcman), who rallied from far back for a condition win on Sunday night in 1:54:3; and Stormont Wizard (Matt Kakaley, Ron Burke), who moved up in class to knock off a condition group on Tuesday night in 1:54, which was a new career-best time.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: SIBSON
This trotter previously had issues staying on stride, but, with Anthony Napolitano in the bike, he was flat and fast in a condition win on Tuesday night at 33-1, paying $68.80 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: JOHN KAKALEY
The veteran driver had just four drives on Sunday night but won with two of them, scoring with pacer Motor City Marco and trotter Swiss Platinum.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: BRUCE CLARKE
The Clarke barn scored three wins on the week, highlighted by a training double on Sunday night and the second straight win by Si Semalu on Saturday night.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Sep 5, 2014 | Racing
The cream of the crop of this year’s Pennsylvania-sired two-year-old trotters and pacers will gather together this Saturday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs for their $1,240,000 Championships Night program.
The horses, in both the $260,000 finals and the $50,000 consolations, earned their way into these races by having the highest pointtotals based on finish position in four PaSS preliminaries raced at the state’s tracks over the last two months.
The four Championship events are slotted for races nine through twelve on Saturday’s 16-race card at Pocono; here’s a look at them in the order they will be conducted:
TWO-YEAR-OLD PACING FILLIES (stakes record – 1:51.1, Economy Terror, 2007)
These fillies have been very competitive among themselves, as this is the only of the four divisions that will find no four-time prelim winner looking for a sweep in the Championship. (In fact, there has never been a “sweeper” in the 2PF class since a record of prelim points was started in 2002, a fact which will obviously stay intact in 2014; what’s more, the prelim pointleader has not won the 2PF Championship since Lady Annie in 2007.)
Aria Hanover (post two, driver Tim Tetrick listed) and Southwind Roulette (post five, Yannick Gingras) figure to be the focal points of attention after showing three wins and a third in their prelims to be tied for the top in this group. Southwind Roulette was third in her first PaSS start, then has taken her last three; among the conquered in her final prelim was … Aria Hanover, who had won three straight going into that event.
TWO-YEAR-OLD TROTTING FILLIES (stakes record – 1:54.3, Sand Violent Blu, 2011, and Designed To Be, 2013)
In contrast to their pacing counterparts, two 2TFs have swept their four prelims and their Championship: Coulantine in 2004, and Fashion Feline in 2009. And the leading pointwinner has won their Championship in each of the last three years (the stake speed setters with Frau Blucher in between).
Looking to add herself the “sweeper” ranks is Wild Honey (post seven, Yannick Gingras). In keeping her record unblemished in the prelims last time out, Wild Honey defeated Gatka Hanover (post eight, Ron Pierce), who had also won her three prelims heretofore, by a half-length. Neither filly will particularly benefit from their outside post draw, making this shape up as a very tough affair.
TWO-YEAR-OLD TROTTING COLTS (stakes record – 1:54.3, Stormin Normand, 2011)
In setting this division’s speed mark, Stormin Normand also completed the “Sire Stakes sweep,” the only 2TC to have accomplished the feat.
Attempting to emulate the “Storm” will be Billy Flynn (post four, Brett Miller), 6 for 6 in his young career. But there are three two-time Sire Stakes prelim winners in this field – Honor And Serve, Lima Pride, and Piercewave Hanover – plus Walter White, a horse who came within a head of Billy Flynn two starts back, so no one is conceding the honors to the unbeaten horse going in.
TWO-YEAR-OLD PACING COLTS (stakes record – 1:50.2, One More Laugh, 2009)
Like his colt counterpart on the trotting side, Stormin Normand, One More Laugh became his division’s only sweeper when he set the stakes mark five years back. (The leading prelim pointleader has won the 2PC in three of the last five years, including Allstar Partner last year.)
Probably set to draw the majority of the focus here is Yankee Bounty (post three, Yannick Gingras), who like Billy Flynn is both 6 for 6 lifetime and unbeaten in the Sires prelims. But also like Billy Flynn, Yankee Bounty had a horse who gave him a scare – Wazikashi Hanover came within a neck of an upset last
time — and again like Billy Flynn, Yankee Bounty faces three opponents with multiple PaSS prelim wins: McArdles Lightning (who had three) along with Dragon Eddy and Lost For Words (two each).
THE UNDERCARD
There will be $50,000 consolations for each of the four Sire Stakes divisions’ horses who came up just shy in trying to earn themselves a place in the final.
It does seem strange to call a contest an “undercard” event when the field of eight has combined earnings of $12,112,270, especially when the first three horses in the post parade have bankrolled $9,956,663 among them. But this is a special field, for a special race – the $50,000 Modern Family Trot, honoring the recently-deceased free-for-aller who was based with the Daryl Bier stable right at Pocono, and who was competitive with this national group the last two years. Those “first three horses,” by the way, are Wishing Stone, Market Share, and Arch Madness, and when mixed with Sevruga and four other hard-hitters they should give a fit tribute to their fallen fellow competitor.
There will also be a $50,000 Invitational Pace, the Adieu to the Almost Summer Pace (no doubt if this race were held in the western part of the state, it would be called the Adios to the Almost Summer Pace, but that’s another story). Millionaires Golden Receiver and Bolt The Duer will draw attention here, along with two sharp four-year-olds on three-race winning streaks: Sunfire Blue Chip and Mach It So.
The first of Saturday’s 16 races is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Jun 3, 2014 | Racing
May 24, 2014
JK Endofanera and Seventh Secret impressively captured divisions of the Pocono Cup in the Historic Series on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The Grand Circuit races were for 3-year-old colts and geldings on the pace.
In the $36,162 first division, JK Endofanera (Art Major-Presidential Lady), moved to two-for-two on the season with a victory on the front end by 1 ¾ lengths in 1:49:4, which matched his career-best. Andrew McCarthy did the driving aboard the 1-2 favorite for trainer Ron Burke. Allstar Partner finished second while Best Said picked up the show.
In the $36,912 second division, Seventh Secret (Allamerican Native-Secret Song) staged a furious rally to come up for the win by a head in 1:50:3. Pierce finished second while Stratos Hanover came in a close third. Mike Wilder drove Seventh Secret, a 5-1 second choice, for trainer Dan Altmeyer.
May 14, 2014 | Racing
Harness racing’s “glamour division,” the three-year-old pacing colts, will open the 2014 Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs Pennsylvania Sire Stakes season this Saturday night, with four divisions of sophomores contesting the $266,252 event.
Captaintreacherous, 2013’s Pacer of the Year, opened his 3YO campaign in this same event 52 weeks ago with a victory, and many of this year’s stars in the sophomore colt pacing crop will be seeing early-season action this Saturday at the lightning-fast mountain oval.
The first division opens the evening’s 15-race card, with Sometimes Said accorded 5-2 early favoritism starting from post two for Hall of Fame driver John Campbell (who must think a lot of the colt trained by his brother Jim, since this is his only Pocono drive of the night; he’ll head right to The Meadowlands afterwards for other stakes competition). Sometimes Said was first or second in 8 of 10 freshman starts, including seconds in his PA Sires Championship and the Breeders Crown, and he started his 2014 campaign in very photogenic style with a 1:51 / 53.2 / 26.2 front-end triumph at Pocono last week.
Also highly-regarded in the first cut are Tellitlikeitis (3-1, post four, driver Brett Miller), debuting in 2014 for the all-conquering Jimmy Takter barn after a devastating 1:50.1 qualifier in which he paced his own last quarter in 25.2, and Limelight Beach (7-2, post six, David Miller), a double winner in Grand Circuit action at Lexington last year.
Race 4 will gather the PA colts for the second time, with the early 5-2 chalk being Maxi Bon (post four, driver Dave Palone). Maxi Bon is a late-developing colt, but he showed his promise by winning his seasonal debut in 1:49.4 despite being parked to the half. Cammikey (3-1, post one, Brain Zendt) seems the major danger here after opening his 2014 campaign with five victories, including a 1:51.1 / 26.4 triumph at The Meadows last start.
Race 6’s third cut finds the early pick to be Somestarsomewhere, at 5-2 from post six for the top team of trainer Ron Burke and driver Matt Kakaley. Somestarsomewhere set a world record of 1:49.4f for 2PC in his Breeders Crown elim last year, then was third in the Crown Championship. This will be his seasonal debut off of three qualifiers. Rated next 3-1 is Somewhere in L A (post four, driver Mark MacDonald, fresh off a win in the Diplomat Series Championship at Woodbine.
Race 8 rounds out the Sire Stakes action, with McWicked the 5-2 choice off a McWicked 2014 debut at Pocono last Sunday, overcoming post nine and an overland trip to tally in 1:51. Simon Allard will have the sulky duty from post six. Allstar Partner is rated next at 3-1 for driver George Napolitano Jr., but last year’s PA Sire Stakes champ for this division will have to overcome the outside post eight.
Also on the Pocono card is a super $25,000 Preferred handicap pace, featuring the likes of Dancin Yankee, winner of the Van Rose Memorial here in 1:49 on a good track on Kentucky Derby Day; Emeritus Maximus, gritty as he can be taking last week’s feature here; and Clear Vision, winner of the Levy Consolation.
Post time for the 15-race card at Pocono on Saturday is slotted for 6:30, though that may be delayed a few minutes dependent on a thoroughbred race in Baltimore immediately previously.
