Jun 29, 2012 | Racing
The Fates of the Post Position Draw certainly smiled kindly on the likely favorites in three stakes races headlining a 16-race card with over $1,200,000 in purse offerings this Saturday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.
The $500,000 Ben Franklin Pace for older horses, the $300,000 Max Hempt Pace for three-year-old colts, and the $250,000 James Lynch Pace for three-year-old fillies all saw their elimination races this past Saturday produce world-record performances over the lightning-fast Pocono Downs 5/8-mile strip, and those responsible for most of the recordwriting were drawn to the inside by the shake of the numbered pills at Wednesday morning’s draw.
The Franklin field is among the finest one-race gathering of harness horses ever, with the nine sidewheelers combining for lifetime earnings of $12,961,896, with five millionaires, two more with over a half a million to their credit, and the other pair with “only” a bankroll of $400,000+.
Last week’s world recordsetter in this group was Aracache Hanover. The son of PA stallion Dragon Again, trained by Gregg McNair for owners William Switala and James Martin, went perhaps the most impressive mile to date in North America during 2012, tucking from an outer post, then ranging up first-over, and despite that brutal journey staying clear late in 1:48.1, the world standard for older entires and just 1/5 off of the all-time all-age record for 5/8-mile tracks. Tim Tetrick, who has topped the drivers list in earnings for five consecutive years, is scheduled to handle Aracache from post four…
…which will lead some to say, “Where’s George?”, as it was two-time defending Driver of the Year George Brennan who won with Aracache last Saturday. But Brennan has opted to guide Betterthancheddar for the powerful stable of Casey Coleman from post two, and why not – because Brennan completed the Franklin elim double by giving “Cheddar” a perfect trip, then coming on late to win in 1:48.3 for owners Steve Calhoun and the West Wins Stable, edging out …
…We Will See (tonight post five, driver Ron Pierce), who had to traverse the brutal raw trip and still held gamely to the shadow of the wire. A son of the late PA champion sire Western Hanover who is trained by part-owner Sam DePinto for himself, Smith, and the Silva Stables LLC, We Will See is a co-holder of the all-time world record on 5/8-mile tracks and the outright owner of the all-time Pocono Downs record, a 1:48 victory in 2011.
One would be a fool to turn away from one’s barn (from remaining inside post out) Razzle Dazzle (Brian Sears), Meirs Hanover (David Miller), Clear Vision (Matt Kakaley), Rockincam (Jim Morrill Jr.), Foiled Again (Yannick Gingras), and Bettor Sweet (John Campbell), but it is very likely that the three in the above paragraphs will draw the most attention … and perhaps lower that 1:48 record at race’s end.
Sometimes the three-year-old pacing fillies take a backseat to the male rivals, the sport’s “glamour division,” but in the Lynch this is not the case, due to the #1-ranked horse in North America for this year, American Jewel. Trained by Jimmy Takter, who will be inducted into the sport’s Hall of Fame the next day, for Brittany Farms, the Jewel sparkled brightly in a 1:49.2 divisional record-equaling performance in her elim at the end of last week, boosting her earnings lifetime to $1,027,193, and she has the added advantage of the rail Saturday for driver Tim Tetrick.
On her very best race, and with a good trip, Economy Terror might be able to give a solid challenge to the likely chalk. Second behind American Jewel last week, the daughter of PA sire Western Terror (and practically a millionaire herself with her $998,881 bankroll) was the national champion at two and won last season’s PA championship at this very same Pocono track, and will be carrying the hopes of local trainer Chris Oakes and owners Chuck Pompey, Howard Taylor, and Edwin Gold as she starts from the middle of the nine-horse field for driver Brian Sears.
Nine will also face the gate in the Hempt Pace for colts, and the two most likely to be fancied by the gathered will start from posts one and three. The #3 will be Hurricane Kingcole, whose effortless 1:48.1 victory last Saturday set the all-time standard for sophomores over this size oval – and the alert will remember that the all-age all-time record for 5/8’ers is 1:48. Off a roaring 52.4 back half, the “King” is as sharp as can be for driver Tim Tetrick, trainer John McDermott, and the ownership combine of Kuhen, Levy Racing Stable, Klee Cohen Brewer and Gordon, and Hurrikane Racing.
Not far behind on last week’s impressive meter was Bolt The Duer, a lightly-raced colt who has the rail for driver Mark MacDonald, trainer Peter Foley, and All Star Racing Inc. His 1:48.3 time caught the eye of many an onlooker, and he is a colt who seems to have a world of potential.
Sam DePinto, trainer of We Will See in the Franklin, has a major contender in this race as well – I Fought Dalaw, who triumphed in 1:49.3 last time out and retains the services of David Miller as they start from post five.
In all, the sixteen-event extravaganza boasts eight millionaires and 11 others who have topped $500,000 in their careers. Given good weather, the Pocono and world record book may be in for another savaging this Saturday, with the action set to begin at 6:30.
The night has been dubbed “Sun Stakes Saturday,” and only partially because of the brilliance of the horses gathered. While supplies last, Pocono patrons purchasing a program can also pick up a special “Sun Stakes Saturday” beach towel (one per person). And a beach towel isn’t a bad promotional item on a night with this kind of equine star wattage, as the pacer Beach Towel of course was the 1990 Harness Horse of the Year, and would feel right at home amidst the heavyweight horsepower of this card.
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.
