May 1, 2014 | Racing
April 19-25, 2014
The Weekly Awards take a hiatus for this week as we stop to focus on the finals of the Bobby Weiss late closer series, which took place the past three racing nights. For those who have been paying attention to Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in the first month of the season, you’ve likely noticed the preliminary Weiss races sprinkled through each night’s card, a chance for younger horses to go head-to-head for solid purses.
The big attraction of the preliminary legs was the opportunity for the combatants to earn enough points to reach the finals, each of which carried a purse of $30,000. That’s a pretty penny for horses early in the season, so it makes sense that some top-notch talent arrived at Pocono at the start of the season for the series named after our longtime track superintendent.
Over the past four weeks, we’ve had the chance to see some budding stars establish themselves in the preliminaries. But who would step up and capture the big-money finals? Read on and find out.
THREE AND FOUR-YEAR-OLD PACING COLTS, STALLIONS, AND GELDINGS
The first of the four finals, held on Saturday night in excellent racing conditions, featured the most wide-open division. The wins in the preliminaries were divided pretty evenly. Only Getitoffyourchest managed three preliminary wins, and he finished seventh in his final leg.
One horse in the final group of nine seemed to be peaking, but he was saddled with a brutal #9 post. Yet A Stitch in Time, driven by George Napolitano Jr. for the Lou Pena barn, didn’t seem to mind. The 4-year-old gelding hustled to the front end, set unconscious fractions, and still was burning it up in the lane. A Stitch In Time ended up comfortably in front by 1 ¾ lengths and set a career-best time of 1:48:3, proving that when a great horse in on his game, even an outside post can’t deter him.
THREE AND FOUR-YEAR-OLD PACING FILLIES AND MARES
Envious Hanover came into the final with three wins in four preliminary legs. With the inside post, she was made the 3-2 favorite. But Prima Dragon, who had won her previous two starts, including a victory in 1:52:1 that represented the fastest winning time achieved in this group in the preliminaries, left right alongside of Envious Hanover, setting up an inevitable showdown.
The difference was in the trip. While Envious Hanover did the work on the lead and had to fight off outside pressure, Prima Dragon sat the pocket trip to save energy. In the stretch, she uncorked her best move in the passing lane to beat the favorite by a 1 ¼ lengths in 1:52:1. Brett Miller did the driving for trainer Michael Dowdall, as Prima Dragon won the tightest of the four Finals.
THREE AND FOUR-YEAR-OLD TROTTING COLTS, STALLIONS, AND GELDINGS
Each time Ray Hall lined up for a Weiss race, he was made an odds-on favorite. And each time, he delivered on that promise with Tim Tetrick in the bike. Still, this final was far from a foregone conclusion, or at least it seemed so after Time To Quit battled Ray Hall to the end in the last preliminary, losing by only a neck. The final on Tuesday had the potential to be a donnybrook.
Instead, Ray Hall was completely dominant. The four-year-old gelding from the Mark Harder barn had the lead by the first turn and controlled matters from that point, once again with Tetrick doing the driving. In the stretch, he kicked away from his listing foes to win by 2 ¾ lengths, adding the exclamation point with a career-best mile of 1:53:2. That made him the only horse to complete a sweep of all four legs and the final.
THREE AND FOUR-YEAR-OLD TROTTING FILLIES AND MARES
In many ways, this race was over once the entries were set. In the preliminaries, Perfect Alliance and Take The Money, a pair of standout mares from the Julie Miller barn, went a combined six-for-six, winning all of those races with ease. Once it was determined that Take The Money would sit this one out, Perfect Alliance immediately became the prohibitive favorite.
Of course, anything can happen in a harness race, but this final always had the feel of a foregone conclusion. Sure enough, with Yannick Gingras doing the driving, Perfect Alliance handled the field without any problems. Her win in 1:53:3 by 1 ¼ lengths gave her nine consecutive victories to start the season, including five at The Meadowlands and four at Pocono. Living up to her name, she made for the perfect way to conclude the Bobby Weiss series for 2014.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
May 1, 2014 | Racing
April 23, 2014
Perfect Alliance kept her record spotless in 2014 by coasting to victory in the $30,000 final of the Bobby Weiss late closer series for three and four-year-old trotting fillies on Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.
Perfect Alliance (Credit Winner-Yalta Hanover) came into the final with eight straight victories, including three preliminary wins in the Weiss, to start the season. Leaving from post position #6 in a field of seven as the 1-9 favorite, the 4-year-old mare from the Julie Miller barn sat second at the quarter but quickly sped by Dough Dough on the front stretch to take the lead. Driver Yannick Gingras had to do little coaxing from that point as Perfect Alliance confidently trotted home 1 ¼ lengths ahead of Dough Dough in 1:53:3. Clementine Dream finished third.
Perfect Alliance now has nine wins in nine races this year. She has 11 wins in her career and her lifetime earnings now stand at $165,001.
Apr 23, 2014 | Racing
April 19, 2014
A Stitch In Time, unbothered by an outside post, put together a dominant performance to win the $30,000 final of the Bobby Weiss late closer series for three and four-year-old pacing colts, stallions, and geldings on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.
Despite drawing the outside post in a field of nine, A Stitch In Time (Kent’s On Nuke-Sheza Gimmie Girl), a four-year-old gelding trained by Lou Pena, was made the 6-5 favorite based on a 1:49:3 win in the final preliminary leg. Driver George Napolitano Jr. maneuvered him into fourth around the first turn while Getitoffyourchest set the early pace. A Stitch In Time quickly brushed to the lead on the front stretch, set a big lead with imposing fractions, and came home comfortably in front of Trys Little Prince by 1 ¾ lengths in a career-best 1:48:3. Getitoffyourchest finished third.
Owned by A Piece Of The Action LLC of Culver City, CA, A Stitch In Time won for the seventh time in eleven races this year. It was his 18th lifetime victory and pushed his career earnings to $89,549.
Apr 15, 2014 | Racing
April 13, 2014
Ray Hall and You Rock My World picked up victories Sunday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in the Bobby Weiss late closer series. There were two divisions of the Weiss held for three and four-year-old colts, stallions, and geldings on the trot, each carrying a purse of $15,000.
Ray Hall (Justice Hall-Comebyrail), driven by Tim Tetrick and trained by Mark Harder, made it a perfect four-for-four in the Weiss with a win in a career-best 1:53:3. You Rock My World (Muscle Mass-Disco Inferno), driven by Matt Kakaley and trained by Ron Burke, rallied for a win in 1:55:3, a new career-mark.
Mar 28, 2014 | Racing
March 22-28, 2014
The 2014 season at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs began under sunny skies and comfortable temperatures last Saturday night, a nice break from the bitter cold that has enveloped the area for so long. Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday got downright frigid once again, but nothing dampened the enthusiasm for the start of the campaign. As we will all season long in this space, let’s take some time to honor the best performances by horses, drivers, and trainers in the past seven days by handing out the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: EIGHTEEN
Although there weren’t any Open paces on the card this week at Pocono, there were several top-flight condition paces which produced seriously rapid times, especially on Saturday night when the weather cooperated. Still, times under 1:50 in the month of March are rare, especially for horses who go into a race at odds of 12-1.
That’s exactly what the 6-year-old stallion Eighteen was facing as he stared down a condition field of non-winners of $30,000 in the last four starts on Saturday night. Trained by Mark Ford, Eighteen had been testing himself against some of the tougher condition pacers at the half-mile oval at Yonkers prior to his arrival at Pocono. He was certainly ready to pounce from behind when the fractions got hot and heavy.
In the stretch, driver Mark MacDonald called on Eighteen for a rally, and he responded with some major late kick. When the dust cleared, the son of Cam’s Card Shark blew by all of the horses who got more attention at the windows with little problem, tripping the timer at a stunning 1:49:3. It was a new career mark for Eighteen, and an early, imposing standard for the rest of the pacers on the grounds to try and match.
Other top pacers this week include: Blatantly Good (Brett Miller, PJ Fraley), who controlled a condition field on Saturday night for a victory in 1:49:4; He’s A Beachboy (George Napolitano Jr., Gilbert Garcia-Herrera), who followed up back-to-back wins at Freehold with a win over a claiming handicap field on Saturday night in 1:52; and Shark Fantasy (Matt Kakaley, Ron Burke), whose win Saturday night in 1:52:3 against other three and four-year-old pacers in the Bobby Weiss series was his third straight overall.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: MODERN FAMILY
While the pacing side had no invitation/open-style races on tap this week, we were fortunate enough to witness a $25,000 Preferred Handicap on the trotting side on Saturday night. As expected, it was a stellar field drawn to the big purse, led by Modern Family, the 5-year-old stallion who is the pride of the Daryl Bier barn.
Bier also drives Modern Family and has led his horse through a gauntlet early in the season, taking on the very best trotters at the Meadowlands and Dover Downs. Yet he hasn’t been the least bit intimidated; in six starts this year he had been in the money every time, including a pair of wins. With that kind of track record, it was no surprise he was made the 4-5 favorite on Saturday night in a rugged field of nine.
Bier worked out a pocket trip behind pacesetting Daylon Magician, setting it up for a stretch battle. That’s when Modern Family delivered the winning blow, wheeling on by for a one-length victory in a time of 1:52:1 that would have been worthy of praise in the middle of summer, let alone on March 22. It made for a great start to the trotting season, which, based on this early evidence, should be quite captivating in 2014.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: First Aqua (George Napolitano Jr., Gilberto Garcia-Herrera), who dominated a field of claiming handicap trotters on Tuesday night to the tune of a career-best time of 1:53:3; Ray Hall (Tim Tetrick, Mark Harder), who won Sunday night in the first leg of the Bobby Weiss series for young trotting colts, stallions, and geldings in 1:55:3, the fastest time of the three divisions held that night; and Perfect Alliance (Andy Miller, Julie Miller), a mare whose romping win in the Weiss series on Wednesday night in 1:54 was her sixth in six tries this season.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: APPLEY EVER AFTER
This pacer rallied late in Saturday night’s final race with Aaron Byron driving to send the fans home stunned, since he was a 25-1 long shot and paid off $52 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: MATT KAKALEY
In an ever-growing driving community, one of our regulars stood out right off the bat. Kakaley became the first driver to chalk up a five-win night in the 2014 season, achieving the feat on Tuesday night.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: GILBERTO GARCIA-HERRERA
Garcia-Herrera ended last year on a tear at Pocono, and he picked it up quickly, nabbing two wins on Saturday night on his way to four for the week.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
