Jul 13, 2017 | Racing
July 8-14, 2017
Coming on the heels of Sun Stakes Saturday, The Pennsylvania All-Stars races have continued the trend of high stakes and thrilling action at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. Two weeks ago, the best two-year-olds took center stage, getting their first taste of intense competition in the process. It was an excellent chance for the Pocono faithful to check out some of the future stars of the sport.
This past week it was the three-year-olds who competed in All-Stars action. Even though these horses are a bit more established than their freshman counterparts, the competitiveness of the fields meant that there were plenty of surprises along the way. Next week we’ll get back to the Weekly Awards, but, for now, let’s take a look back at which three-year-olds undoubtedly earned the moniker of All-Star.
THREE-YEAR-OLD COLTS AND GELDINGS ON THE PACE (Sunday)
The so-called glamour division offered three winners who had been seasoned by competing in rugged Max Hempt action the previous two weeks at Pocono. After struggling to eighth in the Hempt final, Eddard Hanover (Matt Kakaley, Ron Burke) won a thrilling duel with Last Gunfighter in his split in a career-best 1:50:4. Donttellmeagain (Tim Tetrick, Jo Ann Looney-King), who finished third in the Hempt, picked up an All-Stars win as a 1-9 favorite in 1:51:2. Highalator (George Naplitano Jr., Jenny Bier), who won the Weiss series for his age group at Pocono earlier this season but finished out of the money in his two Hempt tries, bounced back with a gutty victory over Photobombr Hanover in the night’s fastest split of 1:50:3. The big surprise in the division came when Jo Pa’s Somebeach (Brett Miller, Jim Campbell), knocked off heavy favorite Summer Side at 16-1 in 1:51:2.
THREE-YEAR-OLD COLTS AND GELDINGS ON THE TROT (Sunday)
Fans of trainer Jim Campbell had a good night on Sunday. As mentioned, he had a 16-1 winner with Jo Pa’s Somebeach on the pacing side. But that was nothing compared to his trotter Thisguyisonfire, who, with David Miller in the bike, rallied from the clouds to win an All-Stars division in 1:54 at stunning odds of 80-1. The combination of driver Corey Calllahan and trainer John Butenschoen took care of business on Sunday night with a pair of favorites. Dover Dan won his split in 1:53:3, the night’s fastest trotting time among the All-Stars, and then Giveitgasandgo followed that up with a victory in 1:54:1. The remaining division for the sophomore male trotters was captured by Two AM (Tyler Buter, Todd Buter) in mild upset fashion at 9-2, as he rallied late for a victory in 1:54.
THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLIES ON THE PACE (Monday)
It wasn’t a great night for the chalk in the sophomore distaff pacing division. Only one favorite came home a winner out of four divisions; that was Freakonomics (George Napolitano Jr., Ross Croghan), who captured a victory in 1:51:2, fastest time of the group. Driver Brett Miller and trainer Nifty Norman was responsible for two of the surprises. First Perplexed, at 11-1, used a ground-saving trip to rally for a win in 1:52. Then the duo hooked up again with Bridge To Tomorrow, who made the last move in a race where the lead changed hands several times to score in 1:51:4 at 6-1. Meanwhile 9-2 shot Pitttstop Danika (Matt Kakaley, Ron Burke) flew up the pylons late to knock off 3-5 favorite Inverse Hanover in 1:52 in another division.
THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLIES ON THE TROT (Tuesday)
As is usually the case with stakes nights, driver David Miller played a big factor. He won the first two splits of the sophomore distaff trotting division, first aboard favorite Vodka N Lindy for trainer George Ducharme in 1:54:2, then with second choice Broadway Idole for trainer Jim Campbell in 1:54:3, with both wins coming on the front end. Crann Tara (Marcus Miller, Linda Toscano), was a first-over, grinding winner in her split at even money in 1:54, while Fine Tuned Lady (Corey Callahan, John Butenschoen) continued the chalky night by winning at 2-5 in 1:54:2. In the night’s final split, Treviso, trained and driven by Charlie Norris, continued her perfect 2017 campaign by coasting to a win in 1:55 to go five-for-five on the season.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Jun 21, 2017 | Racing
June 17-23, 2017
Next week in this space we’ll be detailing all of the action from the Sun Stakes eliminations, which take place on Saturday night, June 24. On that night, the sport’s superstars will be congregating at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono to battle it out in an effort to reach the high-stakes finals the following week. In the meantime, we witnessed an excellent four nights of racing just past, the best of which will be highlighted now in the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: ONE TO DRAW TO
For the second straight week, this award goes to a claimer on an impressive winning streak. Last week, it was Tell Us More, who, by the way, added another win on Saturday night to make it five in a row. This week the honors go to One To Draw To, a five-year-old gelding who came into Saturday night’s $25,000 claiming pace for four and five-year-olds with two consecutive wins in that class in front-pacing fashion.
Hot claimers are subject to switch barns, and One To Draw To was indeed claimed from his victory on June 10, leaving the Rene Allard barn and joining Steve Salerno’s contingent of racers. His first start for the new barn looked a lot like the previous two for the old barn. Leaving from post position #1 in a field of nine as a 7-5 favorite, the gelding quickly took control of the pace with Anthony Napolitano doing the driving. The fractions he set were merciless, even faster than he had in his previous two victories.
Anyone hoping that those quick early times would lead to a late comeuppance had another thing coming. Despite pressure from Next Success, a formidable presence who won this award earlier in the meet, One To Draw To held string through the lane, winning by 1 ¾ lengths. The winning time was a real eye-popper, as the gelding came home in 1:49:3, a new career-mark and the fastest pacing time laid down this past week at Pocono.
Other top pacers include: Baby Kitty (Simon Allard, Eric Foster), who moved up the condition ladder to win his second straight at Pocono on Saturday night, this one coming in a career-best 1:50:1; Art Of Illusion (Jim Marohn Jr., James Guagliardo), who scored his second straight victory over the $15,000 claimers on Saturday night, doing so in a career-best 1:50:4; and Deerfield Beach (Corey Callahan, Dylan Davis), whose victory on Sunday night in a condition pace on a sloppy track in 1:51:4 gave the three-year-old gelding wins in four of his last five races.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: TIRADE HANOVER
This seven-year-old gelding trained by Rene Allard has put together an accomplished career, with earnings pushing near $800,000. But he had been in a little bit of a slump until managing a big effort from the #9 post to win a condition trot on June 5 in 1:54:4. That proved to be the impetus for a step up in class, as Saturday night Tirade Hanover jumped up a couple notches on the condition ladder to face off against a $14,000 group.
Although he won his previous start on the front end, Tirade Hanover raced toward the back of the back early on this time around. It proved to be a good choice by driver Simon Allard, because a raging speed duel between Madhatter Bluechip and Armor Hanover created unsustainable fractions. Allard chose a three-wide path on the back stretch for his charge, and the horse picked off the foes in front of him until he took the lead rounding the final turn.
In the stretch, Tirade Hanover had to deal with a late move from 3-5 favorite Wilberforce, but he proved ready for the challenge, holding him off by a length for the win. His winning time of 1:53:1 was a personal best for the 2017 season to date, and he also provided nice value for his backers at 5-1. With a two-race winning streak that was achieved with two extremely different strategies, Tirade Hanover has proven to be as versatile as he is quick.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Top Dollar (Simon Allard, Rene Allard), who ripped off his second straight condition win on Saturday night, achieving a new career-best time of 1:53:1 in the process; Treviso (Charlie Norris driver and trainer), who stayed a perfect four-for-four in 2017 with a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes win against other three-year-old fillies on Sunday night in 1:54:2; and Overdraft Volo (Andy Miller, Julie Miller), a filly who followed up a Sire Stakes win at Chester with another at Pocono Sunday night, getting it done in a career-best 1:54:3.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: ABOUT THE BENJAMINS
With Marcus Miller in the bike, this condition pacer sprung a surprise on Sunday night with a rallying win at 16-1, paying off $34.20 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: MARCUS MILLER
Miller not only scored wins on every racing night this past week and had multiple victories on three of those nights for his best stretch of the meet thus far.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: DOUG HAMILTON
Monday was a good night at the Stallion Series for three-year-old trotting fillies for the Hamilton barn, as Itsgoodtobequeen won at 13-1 and Out Of Luck picked up a victory at 10-1.
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 31, 2017 | Racing
May 27-June 2, 2017
The fact that the calendar has now crossed over into June means that we are just about a quarter of a way through the racing season at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. It’s been a thrill-a-minute ride to this point, and we haven’t even really entered the heart of stakes season yet. This past week we saw four excellent racing cards and many horses and horsemen who could make legitimate claims on the Weekly Awards. Let’s see who takes them home.
PACER OF THE WEEK: CHEAP N EASY
This nine-year-old mare has been a hot streak of which most horses can only dream. In a stretch from March 28 to May 1, Cheap N Easy ripped off five consecutive victories, four of them right here at Pocono. But then she was laid off for the next four weeks, as she was scratched sick from her only scheduled start in that period.
Trained by Gilberto Garcia-Herrera, Cheap N Easy returned to face a group of $15,000 to $20,000 claiming handicap mares on Monday night. In every one of those previous five straight wins, the mare had either led or been in the pocket at the top of the stretch. But in this one she got away third and watched as Timmylynn opened up a pretty sizable advantage. Still there was no panic from driver George Napolitano Jr., as he allowed Cheap N Easy to save ground.
In the stretch, Napolitano was able to shift Cheap N Easy out three-wide to get a clear look at the leader. Timmylynn didn’t give way easily, but Cheap N Easy was flying and made up a lot of ground in a little bit of time to win by a neck in 1:53:4. Apparently the month or so off didn’t slow her down at all, and she’ll take a six-race winning streak into her next race. Whether that’s a month from now or tomorrow, this mare is going to be tough to handle.
Other top pacers this week include: Luck Be Withyou (George Napolitano Jr., Chris Oakes), who captured Saturday night’s featured condition pace in 1:49:3, giving him the fastest time of the week at Pocono and two wins in a row; Long Live Rock (Simon Allard, Rene Allard), who overcame a move up the condition ladder and an outside post to capture his second straight victory on Saturday night, matching a career-best with a mile of 1:50 in the process; and Angels Rockin Pink (Marcus Miller, John Butenschoen), a mare who moved up in class to win Tuesday night’s featured distaff condition pace in 1:53 for her second straight victory.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: CELEBRITY EVENTSY
For the first two years of her racing career, this four-year-old mare from the Staffan Lind barn was a standout, earning at least $200,000 at ages two and three. There is often a period of adjustment for four-year-olds who have to face older horses for the first time after taking on their own age group almost exclusively in their first two seasons. But Celebrity Eventsy made that adjustment pretty quickly. In just her third race of the year on May 13 at Pocono, she beat a $14,000 condition field made up of mostly older horses on a sloppy track in 1:56:2
She was back at it once again on Saturday night, only this time she stepped up the ladder to face an even more rugged test in a $16,500 condition. Leaving from post position #1 in a field of nine as a 3-1 second choice, the mare sat third early on in the mile. Driver Christian Lind chose to keep her out of the outer flow on the back stretch, a risky move considering that the horse could have got blocked in late.
But Lind read the race perfectly. The outer flow mostly faded from view, allowing him the chance to tip Celebrity Eventsy out three-wide on the back stretch after saving all that ground and energy. The mare unleashed some fierce closing speed and swept by race favorite Skates N Plates in the final strides to win by a head in 1:54:2. If she keeps this up, Celebrity Eventsy is going to make her third racing year as lucrative as the first two.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: French Press (Scott Zeron, Frank Antonacci), a filly who followed up her maiden win with a second straight condition win on Monday night in 1:59; The Erm (Charlie Norris driver and trainer), a filly who picked up her second consecutive condition win on Tuesday in 1:54:4, a new career mark; and Meteoric (Joe Bongiorno, Richard Johnson), a 3-year-old gelding who burned up the track for a condition win on Tuesday night in 1:52:4, a new career-best and easily the fastest trotting time of the week at Pocono.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: TICA HANOVER
This filly driven by Marcus Miller worked out on inside trip in a condition pace on Monday night to score at 24-1 for a $51.60 payout on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: SIMON ALLARD
Simon had multiple victories on all four racing nights at Pocono this past week, but the highlight came on Sunday night when he picked up his 3,000th career victory aboard San Jose Hanover.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: RICHARD JOHNSON
Johnson made the most of his two Pocono training wins this week, as Windsongmusclelady won Monday night’s featured claiming trot and Meteoric posted the fastest trotting time of 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].
May 10, 2017 | Racing
May 6-12, 2017
It was a particularly busy week of racing at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. Due to the doubleheader on Kentucky Derby day, we enjoyed five racing cards in a four-day stretch. That means that we have even more candidates for the Weekly Awards than usual. As it turns out, though, picking the top two horses of the week was an easy matter, as it came down to the winners of the week’s two biggest purses. Here now are the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: BARIMAH A
In Saturday night’s Van Rose Memorial pace, which carried a purse of $50,000, Barimah A, a seven-year-old gelding from the Scott DiDomenico barn, went off at 14-1. This was despite the fact that he won the previous week’s featured pace at Pocono in a career-best 1:50 and despite his drawing the inside post. The betting attention, understandably, went to some of the millionaires in the field, horses like Sunfire Blue Chip, Somewhere in L A and McWicked who were coming in from the rugged early-season races at Yonkers.
The sloppy track did not dissuade the superstars in the field from going for the engine with reckless abandon. Three different horses led in the first three-eighths of a mile, and the fractions created by the speed duel were ruthless: 25:4; 53:1, and 1:20:4. At the top of the stretch Somewhere in L A was on top, Mach It So was hounding him first-over, and favorite Sunfire Blue Chip overcame some tiring cover on the back stretch to rally again in the passing lane.
All of those horses were very close to the blistering pace for much of the mile. The difference for Barimah A was that driver Pat Berry kept him back early, only asking for some kick on the back stretch. As they rounded the final turn, Barimah A was firing on all cylinders, and he eventually outpaced Sunfire Blue Chip in the final strides to get up for the victory by a head. His winning time of 1:50 matched the career-mark he set in the win the previous week, although it was even more impressive this time around because of the sloppy conditions.
Other top pacers this week include: Brickman (Simon Allard, Rene Allard), who switched barns and still scored his third straight victory over $25,000 claimers on Saturday night, winning in the slop in 1:53:1; Inspiration View (Jim Marohn Jr., Ron Burke), who moved up the ladder to win a second consecutive condition race on Saturday night, this one coming in 1:52:1 in the slop; and Tempus Seelster (Jim Marohn Jr., Tony Dinges), a mare who picked up her third straight victory, two of which have come at Pocono, with a condition victory on Tuesday night in a career-best 1:50:1.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: OOH RAH
On Tuesday night, the last of the Bobby Weiss late closer series finals was held. In this case, it was the three and four-year-old trotting colts, stallions and geldings going at it for the $30,000 purse. The preliminary legs had seen several horses step up with solid performances, but Ooh Rah, a four-year-old gelding trained by Kathleen La Montagne, stamped himself as the favorite by winning three of his four starts in the series.
In the final, Ooh Rah left from post position #3 in a field of nine as the 3-5 betting favorite. After sitting third early, driver George Napolitano Jr. decided he wanted to be in charge with the favorite. Ooh Rah swooped past Hilarious Hero on the front stretch to take over the lead. Although Uncle Leroy made a first-over brush, the leader never seemed to feel the pressure and was able to cut out the mile at a relatively leisurely pace.
That came into play late, when Hilarious Hero popped out of the pocket in the stretch ready for a fight. Ooh Rah had energy to spare, powering home to hold off Hilarious Hero by a length. The winning time of 1:55 was faster than any horse had been able to post in any of the previous Weiss legs in this group, and it also marked a career-best for Ooh Rah, a deserving and dominant champ of the division.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Tuonoblu Rex (Andy Miller, Julie Miller) who followed up a win at The Meadowlands in his U.S. debut with an easy victory in the slop on Sunday at Pocono over a tough condition field in 1:53:1, easily the fastest trotting time of the week; Andy Ray (Marcus Miller, Jim Campbell), who rallied on Saturday night for a condition win in the slop in 1:57, giving him victories in the last three starts he’s made at Pocono; and Meme Hanover (Charlie Norris trainer and driver), a colt who followed up his maiden victory with a condition win on Monday night in 1:56:1, matching his career-best time.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: OOH DEAR SAM
With Anthony Morgan in the bike, this veteran pacer surprised a field of claimers on Saturday night to the tune of 26-1, paying out $54.80 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: JIM MAROHN JR.
Marohn seemed to enjoy the daylight hours on Saturday, winning four out of ten races on the matinee card before returning for another victory on Saturday night.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: TONY DINGES
The Dinges barn was all about efficiency on Tuesday night, sending out three starters and earning victories in every one of those 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].
May 18, 2016 | Racing
May 14-20, 2016
It seems like we are in the middle of a stretch at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono where each week features another brand new batch of huge races. This past week we had the chance to witness the Pennsylvania All-Stars, a series for 3-year-olds from the Keystone State which brought out some of the best sophomore racing talent in the entire nation, lured as they were by the solid $30,000 purses available for each division.
We saw a different class on three consecutive nights. Here are some of the highlights of this batch of Pennsylvania All-Stars races.
SUNDAY: 3-YEAR-OLD PACING COLTS AND GELDINGS
The three divisions held on Sunday night proved that there are many different ways to win a race. In the first split, The Catamount Kid, the even-money favorite after a solid 4th-place finish the previous week in the Pennsylvania Classic, used a pocket trip to come up a winner. Simon Allard did the driving for trainer Carl Jamieson, although it wasn’t easy for The Catamount Kid. It took a career-best mile of 1:51:2 to hold off the extremely game Bully Pulpit by a neck.
The next division provided a display of how to win from off the pace. As even-money favorite JJ Flynn started to lose grasp of his lead late, it appeared that Settlemoir, who was sitting the excellent pocket trip, had the edge to come up for the win. Yet it was Voltaire, an 11-1 shot guided by Tim Tetrick, who revved it up on the outside out of nowhere to win by a neck in a career-best 1:52:2. Trained by Brian Malone, it was Voltaire’s first win since March.
In the final split, Another Daily Copy provided a master’s class on how to control a field on the front end. The colt from the Nicholas Devita barn was aided in that effort by driver Jim Morrill Jr., who expertly rated the pace so that even 4-5 favorite Fernando Hanover couldn’t get past in the stretch. At 5-1, Another Daily Copy came home a solid winner by 1 ¼ lengths in 1:51:2, his first win of the season and a new career-best.
MONDAY: 3-YEAR-OLD PACING FILLIES
Monday night provided a chance for some of the fillies who came up short in the Miss Pennsylvania a few weeks ago to get a bit of redemption. In the first split, Darlinonthebeach, who had been favored in the Miss Pennsylvania after upsetting Pure Country in the elimination but got caught up in blistering fractions and faded to 7th in the final, nearly had bad racing luck doom her chances in the All-Stars race. She had to check while making a brush to the lead around the clubhouse turn. The Nancy Johansson trainee didn’t panic, gathering her wits about her until called on again by David Miller in the stretch. She rolled by as the 4-5 favorite to win by a neck in 1:51:3, pushing her career earnings over $247,000 in the process.
Next up was I Said Diamonds, who had battled to 2nd in the Miss Pennsylvania final despite a #9 post. She was once again on the outside in the All-Stars race, starting furthest out in the field of seven as the 1-2 favorite. By the end of the first turn she had assumed the lead. At the top of the stretch, with competitors starting to loom behind her, she kicked away from her foes with Matt Kakaley in the bike. Trained by Ron Burke, I Said Diamonds continues to impress; she’s hit the board in every one of her nine starts with five victories and earnings topping $245,000.
In the final split, Yankee Moonshine, who was a huge earner as a 2-year-old but missed the Miss Pennsylvania final after finishing fifth in her elimination race, was favored at 7-5. But she never really fired and finished fourth. Instead it was a newcomer to Pocono named Shesasmokinlady who came in from the Meadows and put together an outstanding performance. Fresh off a win in the slop, the filly trained and driven by Ray Paver worked out a pocket trip behind a sizzling pace and came on to win by a neck in the night’s fastest time of 1:50:4 as an 8-5 second choice.
TUESDAY: 3-YEAR-OLD TROTTING FILLIES
The action for the distaff trotters started out on Tuesday night with a split featuring a pair of horses, Pink Pistol and Ginny Weasley, coming off wins in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action. Synonymous Hanover, a 5-1 shot making her first start of the season, took the lead from Ginny Weasley at the half. Pink Pistol broke stride in her first-over attempt, and Ginny Weasley couldn’t get there from the pocket. Instead Brett Miller guided Synonymous Hanover, trained by Chris Oakes, to the win by 1 ¼ lengths in a career-best 1:56.
In the second split, Lookin Sharp was coming off a 5th-place finish in her season debut and was saddled with a #9 post, so it was understandable that she went off as a 6-1 shot. But the filly from the John Butenschoen was also the big earner in the field as a 2-year-old, and she regained that fine form on this night. With David Miller in the bike, Lookin Sharp grabbed the lead an eight of a mile into the race and never looked back from there, dominating the field in 1:55:2, a new career-best time.
As it turns out, it wouldn’t be a good night for Pennsylvania All-Stars favorites. Although Abbie’s Celticlass, the 4-5 favorite in the final split, fared better than the favorites in the first two divisions, both of whom went off-stride, her first-over effort wasn’t enough to get more than the show. Meanwhile Modern Mercury, a filly trained and driven by Charlie Norris coming off a win at Harrah’s at Philadelphia, stepped into the breach and scored the victory on the front end in 1:56:1, ending an exciting week of Pennsylvania All-Stars action.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
