Jun 22, 2012 | Racing
June 15-21, 2012
It’s been an incredible week of racing action at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, one that saw superstar colt Googoo Gaagaa break the world record for 3-year-old trotting colts in the eliminations for the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial on Friday night. We’ll be talking about the finals of that great stakes race in next week’s column. Luckily, there are plenty of other worthy candidates for the Weekly Awards from which to choose.
PACER OF THE WEEK: AHEAD OFTHE CURVE
The life of a talented claimer is a transitory one, since a horse that does well in the claiming ranks usually is highly sought after by other horsemen. When a horse switches barns often, it sometimes takes a toll on its performance. By contrast, Ahead Ofthe Curve appears to be getting better every time he has to pack up and move.
He started his travels and his winning streak with a victory in a $12,500 claiming class on May 12 in 1:52. The 6-year-old gelding was promptly claimed and won in the same class two weeks later in 1:51:1, only to be claimed again. On June 2, he moved up to the $15,000 claimers and set a new career mark in 1:50:4 on his way to his third straight victory.
After yet another claim, he joined the Ken Rucker barn and faced his toughest test yet on Sunday night, a $25,000-$30,000 claiming handicap. Driver Eric Carlson has been the one constant for Ahead Ofthe Curve during his travels, and he was there to guide him on Sunday to his fourth straight victory in 1:51:1. Needless to say, he was claimed once more; considering he’s already at the top of the claiming ladder, maybe the gelding can try his luck against the condition pacers, meaning he might even get to unpack.
Honorable mention on the pacing side goes to: Great Soul (Brandon Simpson trainer and driver), who used a late rally on Sunday for his second straight claiming win in 1:52:3; Twin B Passion (Jason Bartlett, Andrew Adamczyk), a mare who used a late rally to beat the $10,000 claimers on Wednesday night in 1:52:4, her fourth straight win; and Billmar Scooter (Tyler Buter, Amber Buter), who beat the top mares on the grounds for the second straight week on Tuesday, this time in 1:50:2.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: WINDSUN GALAXIE
Some horses have the ability to be versatile, showing that they can come from off the pace, sit close to the lead, or gun to the front and still be capable of performing well in all of those circumstances. To be frank, Windsun Galaxie has not been one of those horses since arriving at Pocono from Canada in April. The 5-year-old stallion from the Tyler Raymer barn has hustled to the front in every start and let the chips fall where they may.
Such an aggressive style means that it is incumbent on the driver to rate the pace well. Mark MacDonald, a Canadian import himself, has been masterful at just that skill since taking over the reins for Windsun Galaxie two weeks ago. On June 10, he went gate to wire to beat the non-winners of $25,000 in the last five starts condition trotters, a really rugged group, in a career-best 1:52:4.
On Sunday night he was once again up against the best trotters on the grounds, and he was once again sent right to the front by MacDonald. It was another nice rate job, allowing Windsun Galaxie to fight back when challenged in the stretch by pocket horse Flex The Muscle. The result was a thrilling win by a nose in a photo finish, giving him two straight victories and a spot on top of the mountain for all overnight trotters campaigning at Pocono.
Other top trotter this week include: The Lindy Reserve (Matt Kakaley, Frank Antonacci), who followed up a win at Harrah’s by scoring in a condition trot on Friday at Pocono in 1:54, a new career-best; Fox Valley Smarty (George Napolitano Jr., Thomas Stamper), who came from way back to win a claiming handicap trot in 1:54:3 on Tuesday night, his second straight win and third in his last four; and Keenan (Brian Sears, Larry Remmen), who moved up in class Wednesday night and scored his second straight easy win, this time coming in a career-best 1:53:2.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: ANOTHER WILD WOMAN
With one big move on the last turn, this mare piloted by Andrew McCarthy got by a field of claiming handicap pacers on Wednesday night at 13-1, paying off $28.60 to win.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: MATT KAKALEY
Kakaley was on a nice hot streak the past four racing nights. He had double figure victories for the week, highlighted by a four-bagger on Tuesday night.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: KEN RUCKER
Rucker has been a consistently effective trainer at Pocono the last few seasons, and he was at it again this week with three wins, including a double on Sunday.
That’s it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Jun 20, 2012 | Racing
Northeast Pennsylvania will undoubtedly be the Center of World Harness Racing this Saturday night, as Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs offers a spectacular card, with the $500,000 Earl Beal Memorial Trot Final for 3YO colts – whose eliminations last week spun off the two fastest trotting miles in global harness racing 2012 – joining up with elimination races for the following Saturday’s Ben Franklin Pace Final (FFA horses), Max Hempt Memorial Pace Final (3YO colts), and Jim Lynch Memorial Pace Final (3YO fillies).
The Beal Final is marqueed by Googoo Gaagaa, a son of Cam’s Rocket who set a divisional world record of 1:51.3 in his elim while winning by seven lengths, and Stormin Normand, the Broadway Hall colt and defending PA Sire Stakes champion whose 1:51.4 triumph last week would have been a world record had it come 40 minutes earlier (that is, before Googoo Gaagaa hit the track). In Saturday’s rematch, which is race 12 on the 16-race card, Stormin Normand got a bit of an edge in the positional draw for Hall of Fame driver Dave Palone (who won last year’s inaugural Beal with Dejarmbro after the famous private plane ride), trainer Jim Campbell, and breeder/owner Jules Siegel, shaking post four, while Googoo Gaagaa will have to overcome post six (which he did last week, by the way) for driver Corey Callahan and owner/trainer Richard Hans.
Not to be dismissed is Uncle Peter, the 2011 Breeders Crown winner (ironically, driven by Palone in that race), who thunderbolted home last week to just miss a half-length to Stormin Normand. This Cantab Hall colt, owned by the Fieldings, Christine Takter, and Falkbolagen AB, will begin from post seven for driver Ron Pierce as part of a three-horse entry trained by Jimmy Takter, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame eight days after the Beal, along with stablemates Nothing But Class (post two, Takter up) and Little Brown Fox (post eight, Yannick Gingras).
The first four finishers and the fastest fifth-place finisher from last week made the Beal final, and the same rules will be used in the Lynch Memorial and Franklin, which also have two elims. The Hempt Final, requiring three elims, will find the top three from each of Saturday’s contests advancing.
The combined Franklin eliminations may gather the richest collection of pacers ever assembled for one race, with the 17 entrants sporting a total bankroll of $21,962,000 lifetime, including nine millionaires.
The 9th race second Franklin elim looks to be the tougher of the two, headed as it is by the #1 horse in the North American Top Ten, Foiled Again. The ironsided altered son of Dragon Again, owned by trainer Ron Burke in partnership with Weaver Bruscemi and the JJK Stables, has hit the board in all ten starts this year, and the horse who knows no reverse gear will be guided from post four by Yannick Gingras. (Think we’re kidding about a tough field? Foiled Again, with a lifetime assemblage of $3,843,305, isn’t even the richest horse in the field – heck, he’s not even the richest Burke trainee in the field, with Won The West [$3,939,136] starting from post eight for David Miller.)
This group also includes We Will See (post three, Hall of Famer Ron Pierce), whose all-age record 1:48 at Pocono last September ties for the fastest mile ever on a 5/8-mile track and who also is the defending Franklin champion, and Golden Receiver (post nine, Brian Sears), who has led the Top Ten polls for most of the campaign.
In the 7th race Franklin elim cut, much of the attention will focus on two horses who were in the photo for win in the Bettor’s Delight Pace at Tioga Downs on June 10 – Clear Vision (post four, yet another Burkian, driven by PcD regular Matt Kakaley), who nosed out (yes, stablemate) Foiled Again, and Bettor Sweet (post seven, Hall of Famer John Campbell), who set a scorching pace and succumbed only by a neck to the two outside-flow horses.
A good deal of the industry will have an eye on the 11th race Lynch elimination, a field of seven, topped by the Top Ten’s #2, American Jewel (post four, driver Tim Tetrick, trainer Jim Takter, and owner Brittany Farms), who had established herself as last year’s top distaff pacing freshman before suffering a season-ending injury. But she has roared back in 2012, last week winning the $629,160 Fan Hanover Final at Mohawk in 1:48.2, a divisional world record – enough to encourage her connections to put up $15,000 to supplement her to the Lynch.
Her archrival, last year’s divisional champion Economy Terror, had a hard trip in the Fan Hanover and finished fifth, but tonight’s post change from nine outside Toronto to one at the track where she won her state’s Sire Stakes Championship last year should position her for a big outing for driver Brian Sears, local trainer Chris Oakes, and the ownership triumvirate of Pompey, Taylor, and Gold.
The other Lynch elim, race 3, may hinge on which Sarandon Blue Chip shows up at Pocono – the one who was super-impressive winning at The Meadowlands three weeks ago, or the one who was rough-gaited and missed out on the Fan Hanover Final. Sarandon will try to bounce back from post five for driver David Miller, with the major danger looking to come from Major Look (post two, Jeff Gregory) who won in 1:50.1 at Tioga in her last start.
For the Hempt, the first elim is race 5, where I Fought Dalaw, like Sarandon Blue Chip, will look to bounce back from a subpar Mohawk performance after strong Meadowlands form. David Miller will guide I Fought Dalaw from post two.
Also trying to shake off bad Mohawk luck will be Hurrikane Kingcole, starting from post three for Tim Tetrick in the 10th race second elimination. The “King” (no relation to George Anthony) miscued at the start of his North America Cup elim, but was officially timed in a mind-blowing 1:18.3 for his final three-quarters after repairing his error.
The third Hempt group, in race 13, pulls together many horses with great credentials: Bolt The Duer (post two, Mark MacDonald), who has all the potential in the world; A Rocknroll Dance (post four, Yannick Gingras), who was the top-rated colt coming into this season; and Allstar Legend (post seven, Brian Sears), who smoked the last 1320 feet of Philadelphia in 26.2 in posting a 1:48.2 triumph last out.
FINISHING LINE – That 1:48.2 of Allstar Legend was just 1/5 of a second off the divisional world record of Custard The Dragon – who just happens to be the defending Hempt champion – and who just happens to be in the race which will kick off the card at 6:30, a $25,000 winners-over pace.
Jun 8, 2010 | Racing
WILKES-BARRE, PA — Arch Madness, driven by Brian Sears, made harness racing history Tuesday, June 8th at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs when the aged trotter stopped the timer in 1:51. The 1:51 mile is the fastest ever produced on a five-eighths mile oval in the history of harness racing.
Assigned the nine hole in a deep $24,000 open handicap trot field, Sears left quickly and followed Corleone Kosmos (Eric Goodell) with the latter trotter taking the field to the opening quarter in 27.3. Shortly thereafter near the three-eighths marker, Arch Madness grabbed the lead and was on the front end with the half reading 55.4. Arch Madness got to the three-quarter pole in 1:23.2 before stopping the timer in 1:51.
“Trond (Smedshammer) and I thought we would break the world record some day,” said Sears. “But being cool I didn’t think it would be tonight. Arch Madness is super sharp and he did it pretty easily. I wanted to be aggressive leaving from the outside and it worked out really well.”
This was the second win in six starts this season for Arch Madness, owned by Marc D. Goldberg of Woodmere, N.Y., and Willow Pond LLC, Hewlett, N.Y. The six-year-old gelding also has two second-place finishes and a third in 2010 and has been going up against Lucky Jim, another of the world’s top aged trotters.
Previously, Macho Lindy (Larry Stalbaum) had the all-time track mark at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs while Scorpion Moon and Beach Nut Brand had the aged gelding trot mark of 1:52.4. Ironically, Scorpion Moon was in the Tuesday night race with Arch Madness.
The great Varenne, a seven-year-old stallion, had the all-time track mark of 1:51.3 for a five-eighths mile oval. That was established July 14, 2002 in Mikkeli, Finland, with Giampaolo Minnucci in the sulky.
About Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs
Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, 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 at Pocono Downs is currently home to 55,000 square feet of gaming space including 2,500 slot machines and electronic table games, a variety of dining and shopping options, nightlife, entertainment and live harness racing eight months out of the year. Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs 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 mohegansunpocono.com.
