Jun 19, 2013 | Racing
There are 11 stakes race eliminations on the Saturday card at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, with horses earning their way into competition next Saturday, Sun Stakes Saturday, that will be worth almost $2,000,000 in purses.
15 three-year-old pacing fillies in the two eliminations for the $300,000 James Lynch Final have bankrolled a combined $3.6M in a little more than one season, and two have beaten 1:50 already this year: I Luv The Nitelife, who won the Fan Hanover Final last week, and Ms Caila J Fra, who defeated “Luv” and another top Lynch contender, Jerseylicious, in a recent NJ Sire Stakes Final. Oh, and there’s Somwherovrarainbow, who is merely defending division champ.
24 three-year-old trotting colts, less than two months away from the Hambletonian, start their quest for the $1,000,000 PA bonus for winning the Earl Beal Trot, the Colonial, and the Breeders Crown (which will all be at Pocono) by racing three elims for next week’s $500,000 Beal Final. The “hot shooter” in this group, which has collectively earned $3.8M and has 13 entrants who have bettered 1:55 already this season, is Smilin Eli, perfect in three career races, but starting “behind the 8-ball” in his Saturday elim.
22 of the sport’s “glamour division,” the three-year-old pacing colts, will go at it in three elims before the $500,000 Max Hempt Memorial next week. And right now, in a collective group with $5.1M banked and eight under 1:50 already in 2013, the big focus will be on “The Captain,” Captaintreacherous, last season’s Pacer of the Year who kicked off his 2013 campaign right at Pocono and now returns to town off a triumph in the year’s first seven-figure race, last Saturday $1,000,000 North America Cup Final at Mohawk.
And that’s just the three-year-olds. There are 20 older horses brought together for elims towards the $500,000 Ben Franklin Final on the Sun Saturday Stakes card, and they just may be the best overall field of horses ever assembled. Their collective accomplishments are mind-boggling:
$23.9M in career earnings – that’s right, the AVERAGE career bankroll of this field approaches $1.2 million, headed by the sport’s richest-ever pacer, Foiled Again ($4,895,444); an AVERAGE career mark of 1:48.2, with 13 of the 20 already hanging up a sub-1:50 triumph in 2013;
the defending Franklin champ, Betterthancheddar; the defending 3YO (Heston Blue Chip) and older (Foiled Again) champions; the horse who beat this group most recently, in the Roll With Joe at Tioga, Pet Rock; and the fastest horse ever on a 5/8-mile track, Bolt The Duer (1:47.4f).
Wow! What a card!
The first of Saturday’s 14 races at Pocono is set to go at 6:30 p.m. The Lynch fillies are in races 1 and 5; the Beal trotters are in races 2, 6, and 9; Hempt colts are slated for action in the 3rd, 7th, and 10th; and the free-for-all monsters will go in races 8, 11, and 12.
You just don’t like harness racing if you’re not anxious to see this card’s action unfold, and to see who earns spots for the $2,000,000 Sun Stakes Saturday card a week later.
Gerry Connors for Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs
May 14, 2013 | Racing
May 12, 2013
Camille outdueled Feeling You in a rematch of the rivalry they recently stoked at Yonkers, winning Sunday night’s featured Preferred pace for mares at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The race carried the night’s top purse of $25,000.
On April 27 at Yonkers, Feeling You rallied in the stretch to knock off pacesetting Camille in the $250,000 Blue Chip final at Yonkers. On Sunday night at Pocono, Camille benefitted from a #3 post position in a field of nine, while Feeling You started from the #7 hole. Camille was made the 4-5 betting favorite, and the 5-year-old mare from the Ron Burke barn took the lead around the first turn from early leader Warrawee Koine.
Driver Matt Kakaley was able to rate the speed well aboard Camille (Camluck-Art Of Design) with a 29-second second panel, and the mare would need every bit of that energy when Feeling You came at her first-over on the back stretch. The two dueled right to the line before Camille prevailed by a nose in 1:51:1. Warrawee Koine picked up the show and Economy Terror, a former Breeders Crown winner and two-time Pennsylvania State champ, was fourth in her first start of the season.
Camille, owned by Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, M1 Stable, and Jack Piatt II, won for the fourth time in six tries this year in what was her first sojourn outside of New York in 2013. It was also her 24th career win and pushed her lifetime earnings to $849,309.
In other action at Pocono on Sunday night, Only In My Dreams (Credit Winner-Invincible Dream), trained by Gail Wrubel and driven by Mike Simons, won a $13,000 condition trot that was run in honor of Bobby Manning. Manning was a longtime Pocono horseman who died a few months ago at the age of 51. The Pocono horsemen gathered en masse in the winner’s circle following the race to honor Manning’s memory.
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].
Jan 4, 2013 | Racing
Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs is getting ready for what will be their biggest season ever with the addition of three big races for late summer.
In addition to the Breeders Crown, scheduled for Saturday, October 19th; and the Ben Franklin, Earl Beal, Jr. Memorial Trot, the Max Hempt, and the James Lynch set for June; the track in Northeast PA is proud to add the prestigious Super Stakes races from Harrah’s Philadelphia to their stakes schedule. The Colonial; Battle of Brandywine; and the Valley Forge will take their spot two weeks after the Hambletonian on Saturday, August 17th.
The decision to change the schedule, which will see these races alternate between Harrah’s Philadelphia and Pocono from year to year, was made by the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association, which controls the stakes schedules at both tracks. According to PHHA President Sam Beegle, the move will make it easier to keep the purse account in check.
Ron Battoni, Executive Director of the PHHA, also cited the recent renovations to the racing apron to Pocono as a plus. “They put $300,000 last year into the apron to level it. They can put tables and tents, as well as outdoor vendors and betting windows.”
At a press conference for the Breeders Crown last fall, Sam Beegle announced a bonus of $1 million if the same horse wins the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial Trot; the Colonial Trot; and the Breeders Crown 3-Year-Old Trot.
Racing opens for the 48th season at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs on Saturday, March 23rd, and continues until November 16th.
Jan 4, 2013 | Racing
The exciting Breeders Crown series will be held once again at the record-breaking Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs 5/8 mile red oval on Saturday, October 19, 2013.
The historic track held the series in October of 2010, and was the first track to host all 12 races, worth $6 million, in one night. Crowds from as far away as Canada, California, and Florida lined the apron to witness history in the making and several world records.
“Due to the huge success of 2010, we are excited to host the 2013 Breeders Crown”, said Vice President of Racing Operations, Dale Rapson. “The Hambletonian Society Board of Directors have stated that they felt that the 2010 Breeders Crown, held at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, was one of the most successful ever held. They are as enthusiastic to come back as we are to have them. Of course, this cannot have happened without the ongoing support, participation, and cooperation of the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association.”
Tom Charters, President of the Hambletonian Society, was equally enthusiastic about the partnership. “The opportunity to return to Pocono Downs in 2013 is very exciting,”, he said. “ Mohegan Sun and the Pennsylvania horsemen (PHHA) were terrific hosts in 2010. Building on that memorable record-breaking night, the Hambletonian Society is looking forward to partnering with them again on what will be a spectacular event for the entire harness industry.”
Sam Beegle, President of the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association, announced that the PHHA would award a $1 million bonus if the same horse wins the Earl Beal, Jr. Memorial Trot, the Colonial Trot, and the Breeders Crown 3-Year-Old Colt Trot.
The 29-year-old Breeders Crown series has typically crowned champions in every division for trotters and pacers and been the deciding factor in Horse of the Year honors. A Breeders Crown title has become one of the most coveted honors in harness racing. The series has encompassed the entire North American continent and reflected the ambience and local flavor of each of the host markets.
