May 12, 2013 | Racing
May 4-10, 2013
It was an extremely busy week at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, featuring one extra racing card thanks to our Kentucky Derby day doubleheader. With all of that thrilling action, there were plenty of fantastic performances to witness and a bevy of top choices for the Weekly Awards. Those were some tough choices to make, but here are the best of the best from this jam-packed week.
PACER OF THE WEEK: GOLDEN RECEIVER
Back before Pocono ascended to one of the top tracks in the nation, it was common for horses that did well here to struggle when they got to the bigger stages. That has all changed in recent years, and no horse exemplifies that transformation any better than Golden Receiver, who was once the best at MSPD but proceeded to be one of the best in the whole country.
Coming off a 2012 season which saw him earn $941,025, he picked up where he left off with six straight victories to start this year before a loss at Harrah’s on April 5. After a month off, he returned to racing at the scene of so many of his greatest triumphs in Saturday night’s $50,000 Van Rose Memorial pace. The fans remembered the 8-year-old gelding from the Mark Harder barn well, making him the 1-5 favorite in a star-studded field.
He didn’t disappoint. Driver George Napolitano Jr. sent him to the front end early, and Golden Receiver did the rest, winning by 1 ¾ lengths in 1:50 without even breaking a sweat. It was a kind of victory lap for the superstar, but, with the Breeders Crown scheduled for Pocono in October, he’ll likely be back to go for an even bigger crowning score at his former home.
Honorable mention on the pacing side includes: Lorrie Please (Eric Carlson, Michael Hall), a mare who won her second straight Preferred distaff pace on Sunday night, rallying for the victory in 1:51; Mustang Art (Andrew McCarthy, James McGuire), who burned it up on the front end in a condition pace for a win in 1:49:3, the fastest time posted at Pocono this week; and Blissful Dreamer (Jim Morrill Jr., Brewer Adams), who won her third straight race at a third different claiming price, this time out on Wednesday night over the $10,000 claiming mares in 1:52:3.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: CLASSIC MARTINE
Sunday night featured the last of the four $30,000 finals for the Bobby Weiss Series, the races which featured some of the best young talent on the grounds over the first month of the season. The last of the groups to take center stage was the assemblage of 3-year-old trotting fillies, and the final was distinguished by the fact that Classic Martine was a prohibitive favorite.
It didn’t take too much in the way of investigation to see why, considering that the filly from the Todd Schadel barn had won her last three starts in the previous legs of the series, beating at one time or another in that stretch every horse that she would face in Sunday’s final. Still, the 1-2 favorite could have had any number of things go wrong, like a break of stride or some bad racing luck, to derail her chances.
Driver Andy Miller took some of the variables out of play by sending Classic Martine to the front end. He then allowed the filly to dictate the pace and expend only as much energy as necessary. In the stretch, she glided home over horses giving all-out efforts to get to her, winning without exerting herself at all in 1:55:3, making this Weiss final look like a foregone conclusion.
Other top trotters include: As Ya’ll Like It (Tyler Buter, Amber Buter), who trotted away and hid for a claiming handicap victory on Saturday night in 1:55:1; Sand Wyndham (Joe Pavia Jr., Rene Allard), who made a late rally to win Tuesday night’s featured condition trot in 1:54; and Tui (Anthony Napolitano, Don Wiest), who rolled to an easy win in Wednesday night’s featured condition trot, scoring in a quick 1:53:2 despite sloppy conditions.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: TWIN B FLIRT
Saturday’s very first race of the morning on the special racing card woke the patrons up quickly, as driver Marcus Miller guided this condition pacer to a win at 32-1 for a $66 payout on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: MATT KAKALEY
Matt had one of his best weeks of the season to date, including a monster weekend with eight wins in two days and a five-bagger on Sunday night.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: PJ FRALEY
With three wins on Saturday night’s program and then two more on Tuesday night, Fraley continued what has been an extremely hot start to the Pocono meet.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Nov 7, 2012 | Racing
2012 Horses of the Year
As we wind down the 2012 racing season at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, a season which finishes up on Wednesday, November 21, it’s about time to start celebrating some of the outstanding equine performers who have shined for the Pocono faithful this year. In other words, it’s time to honor our horses of the year.
This is a tough task for those of us who do the choosing each and every year, but 2012 has been particularly competitive and, as such, it’s been darn near impossible to distinguish the best from the very, very good. What makes it even more difficult is that so many top horsemen are bringing their horses through Pocono, it’s hard for any horse to sustain consistent success, especially in the highest classes of racing.
Still, it’s fun to look back and recall some of the outstanding horses we’ve seen throughout the campaign, and, after careful deliberation, we came up with four standouts who were just a notch above the rest. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the 2012 MSPD Horses of the Year.
CLAIMER OF THE YEAR: MCSOCKS
Many horses in the claiming ranks move up and down the ladder until finding a spot that fits them. By contrast, McSocks settled into the $25,000 claiming class for 4-year-olds and just couldn’t be dislodged from the winner’s circle. The gelding won five times in that class at Pocono, including an amazing four-race winning streak in the month of August. He set his career-mark in one of those races with a 1:50:2 mile. His early speed was simply too hot for most of his foes to handle, and, in typical claiming fashion, McSocks won for four different trainers at Pocono this year, as he scored for Doug Berkeley, Pete Pellegrino, PJ Fraley, and Jason Robinson.
MARE OF THE YEAR: TUI
One of Pocono’s fan favorites, this 4-year-old mare from the Don Wiest barn showed off her prodigious talent in 2012. In 20 races this season, she hit the board in 12 and won seven times. All of the wins came with Anthony Napolitano in the bike, as Anthony would usually send Tui to the front and dare everyone else to play catch-up. The mare was fearless, winning at five condition levels racing primarily against male horses. The highlight of her season came back on May 25, when she scorched the Pocono track to the tune of 1:52:3, a new track record for 4-year-old trotting mares.
TROTTER OF THE YEAR: ANDERS BLUESTONE
This 6-year-old stallion proved himself among the finest trotters on the grounds a year ago, but he was even better in 2012. Week in and week out, the pride of the Eric Ell barn went up against the finest trotters on the grounds and always acquitted himself well. He finished in the money in every one of his eight starts at Pocono this season, and each of those starts came in either Open company or in our highest condition group, the winners of over $25,000 lifetime. With George Napolitano Jr. in the bike, Anders Bluestone won three of those races, with the highlight coming when he beat former Breeders Crown champ Arch Madness in October.
PACER OF THE YEAR: BILLMAR SCOOTER
I can’t remember a year where the top pacing award went to a mare, but this standout from the Amber Buter made it just about impossible to pick anybody else. She was the closest thing to unbeatable that we witnessed at Pocono this season. The 7-year-old won her first two starts at Pocono after arriving from New York in May. After a fourth and a second in her next two starts, Billmar Scooter reeled off four straight victories against the best mares at the track. To add an exclamation point, she followed it up after a stint at Yonkers with back-to-back wins in the fall. Tallying everything up, she won 8 of her 11 starts at Pocono against extremely stiff competition, certainly an award-worthy performance.
Next week in this column, we’ll be wrapping up the 2012 season by honoring the season’s finest drivers and trainers and recapping some of the year’s most memorable races.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Nov 2, 2012 | Racing
October 19-25, 2012
The competition at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs over the past week was a lot of fun to watch. The weather has been cooperating, providing warmer temperatures than usual for this time of the year even when the rains came. As a result, we had a lot of fast times on both the pacing and trotting side of the ledger, giving us a great group of candidates for the Weekly Awards. Check it out below to see who get the honors.
PACER OF THE WEEK: BITTERSWEET CHAMP
Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen several horses stepping up in class in the condition ranks. In general, such a move up the ladder is a bit of a bumpy ride, considering that the competition is much stiffer in the higher classes. As a result, a horse that does move up has to raise its game to a new level to have any chance of picking up a victory.
Bittersweet Champ, a four-year-old gelding from the barn of Welsh trainer Gareth Dowse, was coming off a career-best start in a victory on October 12 in 1:50:3. Buoyed by that big effort, he stepped up into a condition for non-winners of $15,500 in the last five starts on Saturday night, a class against which he had previously come up short in two previous races.
Saturday night was a different story. Driver George Napolitano Jr. found the gelding some live cover on the back stretch. At the top of the lane, Bittersweet Champ blew right by that cover and scored his second straight win. As mentioned before, he needed to raise his game and he did just that, re-setting his career best with a sizzling time of 1:49:4, which matched the fastest pacing time of the week.
Other top pacers this week include: Sonic Raider (George Napolitano Jr., Joseph Karrat), who moved up in class on Saturday night but still captured his third straight claiming win and matched a career-best in the process with a mile of 1:52:2; Four Starzzz King (George Napolitano Jr., Peter Pellegrino), an 11-year-old pacer who picked up his second straight win over the $10,000 claimers on Saturday night in 1:52:1; and Special Dark (Matt Kakaley, Kent Sherman), a mare who picked up her second straight win over the $5,000 claimers on Friday night in 1:54:3.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: PHOTO KING
Sometimes it takes some kind of change for a horse to tap into his true potential. In the case of Photo King, he’s had two pretty significant changes in the past month. He was claimed on September 28 and joined the barn of trainer Bill Mullin, and Mullin brought the 5-year-old gelding to Pocono from Saratoga Harness after the claim.
With a change of scenery and a change of barns, Photo King quickly responded with a claiming handicap win on October 12. That was all his handlers needed to see to step him up to a condition for non-winners of $25,000 in the last five races, one of the toughest groupings on the grounds. To make things more difficult, he had to deal with the #9 post.
Driver George Napolitano Jr. sent Photo King to the front early to get positioning, then allowed him to sit the pocket when the mare Tui went by him early. In the stretch, the five-year-old gelding made a big second move and won a thriller, prevailing in 1:53:2. Not only was that a career-best, it was also the fastest trotting time at Pocono for the week.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Sand Wyndham (Joe Pavia Jr., Rene Allard), who stepped up in class to win his second straight condition trot on Saturday night in 1:53:3; Without a Clue (Joe Pavia Jr., Anette Lorentzon), who now has three consecutive wins to start his career following a romping condition victory on Wednesday night in 1:55:3; and Around And Over (Anthony Napolitano, James McGuire), who picked up his second straight gate-to-wire win in condition action on Tuesday night, this one coming in 1:57:2.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: IDEAL DANNY
Ideal Danny had been slumping for a bit, which is why he got away at 37-1 on Friday night in a condition pace, but he pulled off the upset with Eric Carlson in the bike for a $76.80 payout on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: JOE PAVIA JR.
Pavia has been picking up steam as the season has rolled on, and this week was indicative of that trend, as he picked up driving doubles on Saturday and Tuesday.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: PETER PELLEGRINO
It’s been a good season at Pocono for the Pellegrino barn, and this week he scored training victories with Four Starzzz King on Saturday and Caviart Spencer 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].
Nov 2, 2012 | Racing
October 26-November 1, 2012
There were only three nights of racing this past week at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs due to Hurricane Sandy. Even with the smaller slate of racing, there were still plenty of fine performances, including a track record. That means that we have plenty of excellent choices for this edition of the Weekly Awards, and the horse that set the track record leads it off.
PACER OF THE WEEK: BET ON THE LAW
Track records are a great achievement at any point, but the ones that are set usually come in the warmer months of summer. That’s why the effort put forth by Bet On The Law was so exceptional on Saturday night. Not only did he have to overcome some outstanding condition pacers to set his record, but he also had to overcome the chilly temperatures.
The three-year-old gelding is the pride of the Joe Pavia Jr. barn, and Joe also drives him on a regular basis. As with most track records, it required some blistering early fractions, and Bet On The Law was in a perfect position to take advantage of those fractions when the time came. In the stretch, the gelding made a second move and surged past the competition.
When he rolled to the line in front of the rest of condition pacers in the field, the timer read 1:49:1. That bested the previous Pocono mark for 3-year-old geldings on the pace of 1:49:2, which was set earlier this season by Dynamic Youth. That’s quite the achievement for a horse that is in his first year of racing, as the gelding didn’t even race as a 2-year-old. Maybe that’s why the October weather didn’t bother him a bit, because he’s just getting in his groove with a very bright future ahead.
Other top pacers this week include: Special Dark (Matt Kakaley, Kent Sherman), who continued her domination of the $5,000 claiming mares on Friday night with her third straight win, this time coming in a career-best time of 1:53; Mustang Art (Tyler Buter, James McGuire), who rallied for a win on Saturday night in a condition pace in 1:49:1, which was a career-best time and matched the fastest of the week; and Miss Behave (Jim Morrill Jr., Ted Wing), a mare who rolled to her third straight claiming handicap win on Wednesday night in 1:54.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: SEVRUGA
The winners of over $25,000 condition trotting group has been one of the most fun to watch all season long at Pocono. It seems like no horse has been able to really dominate from week to week. We’ve seen horses step up in class for big wins in this group, and we’ve also seen other horses that are dropping down from higher groupings finding a home in the class.
Sevruga fits firmly into the latter category. The 4-year-old gelding from the Julie Miller barn has had an excellent season, but it was interrupted by a two month hiatus following a 4th place finish in stakes competition at Harrah’s in August. His first start back on October 20 at Pocono ended in a third-place finish in an Open Handicap trot on October 20, finishing behind superstar trotters Anders Bluestone and Arch Madness, which is no great shame.
On Saturday night, he was ready for a peak performance. Driver Pat Berry sent him to the front end early on from an outside post, and nobody was able to even threaten him from the point. Sevruga rolled to an easy win in 1:52:2, the fastest trotting time of the week at Pocono, and he seems fresh enough to move back up into even higher echelons of the trotting world.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Crystal Sizzler (Andrew McCarthy, Norman Morford), who beat a field of $7,500 claimers on Friday night in 1:56:4 for his second straight win and third in his last four; Tui (Anthony Napolitano, Donald Wiest), the mare who chalked up a big condition win on Saturday night in a season that’s been full of them for her, as she scored in 1:52:4; and Bloomfieldcantifly (Jim Morrill Jr., Bill Mullin), a filly who won Wednesday night’s featured condition trot in 1:56, a new career mark.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: SATIN SPIDER
Racing on Halloween, this spider spun his web with John Kakaley at 43-1 in a claiming pace, paying off $89.60 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: ANDREW MCCARTHY
No driver has been more adept at bringing in long shots at Pocono, and McCarthy’s driving double on Friday night included a 15-1 winner in My Cinnamon Girl.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: LINDA KAKALEY
There was a lot of balance in the training colony this week, with a lot of different trainers picking up single wins. That means that Linda’s 2-for-2 training double on Friday night really stands 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].
Sep 12, 2012 | Racing
September 7-13, 2012
Even with only three nights of racing at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in the past week, we still had more than enough candidates to fill out the Weekly Awards. Give credit to the impressive group of pacers and trotters we have on the grounds that have made not just this week at Pocono, but all of 2012, a destination for some of the finest racing in the country.
PACER OF THE WEEK: FOILED AGAIN
In Saturday night’s $50,000 Open pace, the seven horses in the field came into the race with earnings of around $12,000,000. Leading that pack of big earners was Foiled Again, an 8-year-old gelding who came into the race with $4.3 million in the bank. Even with that fact, and even considering he won a huge stakes at Mohawk in his last race, the pride of the Ron Burke barn was still the 2-1 third choice behind favorite We Will See and second choice Bettor Sweet, both superstars in their own right.
Leaving from the outside post in the field, driver Matt Kakaley decided to play it conservative with Folied Again, settling him toward the back of the pack as nasty fractions were set on the sloppy track. It wasn’t until the back stretch when horse and driver made their move, and they got a little racing truck when Rockincam stepped out in front of them to give them a bit of cover.
In the stretch, Kakaley had Folied Again out on the wide side with a clear path and only Bettor Sweet standing in his way. The two standouts battled through the lane, but when the dust cleared, Foiled Again was the one who came out in front, just like he had 63 times before in other career victories. His winning time of 1:49:1 was the fastest of the week despite it being achieved in the slop.
Other top pacers this week include: Mr Govianni Fra (Brandon Simpson, Ken Rucker), whose condition win on Friday night in 1:53:1 was his third straight, which is even more notable considering that winning streak immediately followed up 35 straight losses to start his career; Woodmere Ultimate (George Napolitano Jr., PJ Fraley), who rolled to his second straight $25,000 claiming win on Saturday night, this one coming in 1:51:2; and Feeling You (Tyler Buter, Amber Buter), a newcomer to Pocono who captured Tuesday night’s Open pace foe mares in a career-best 1:49:3, just missing a track record in the process.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: ROSE RUN HOOLIGAN
The winners of over $25,000 lifetime condition is the very best condition grouping at Pocono and often serves as the featured trot for the week, as it did on Saturday night. That means that any horse that conquers that group must not only be pretty talented but it also must be at the top of its game.
Rose Run Hooligan is a 9-year-old stallion who has been at the top of his game for an impressively long amount of time, hence his career earnings which are sneaking up toward the $1 million mark. On Saturday night, the veteran was overlooked at the window at 6-1 despite the fact that we was coming off a win in Canada.
Driver David Miller drove Rose Run Hooligan like he was a prohibitive favorite, however, and the stallion responded. He took the lead early on and was still there at the end to win by 1 ¾ lengths in a slop-defying time of 1:53:1, the fastest trotting time at Pocono this week. At an age when most horses are slowing down or packing it in, this star from the Rene Allard barn seems to be peaking.
Honorable mention on the trotting side this week goes to: Spit N Shine (Joe Pavia Jr., Chris Oakes), who romped to his third straight claiming win on Tuesday night, this one coming in 1:56:2; Grace N Charlie (Anthony Napolitano, James Siegelman), a mare who scored her second straight claiming victory on Tuesday night in 1:57:2; and Speculation (Tom Jackson, Robert Bath), who followed up a win at Harrah’s with an upset victory in a rugged condition group on Saturday night in 1:54:1.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: CAROLSTERN
With a swooping late move, this mare driven by David Ingraham upended a group of younger distaff pacers on Friday night at 35-1, paying off $72 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: DAVID MILLER
Miller always makes an impact when he comes around, as he did on Saturday night, topping all drivers on the card with four victories on the evening.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: PJ FRALEY
Fraley has been a major player at Pocono all season long at Pocono, and this week was no different thanks to a training double on Saturday night.
That will do it for this week at Pocono, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
