Jun 25, 2014 | Racing
June 14-20, 2014
We are in the thick of the most exciting time of the season at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. Over the next few weekends we’ll be seeing some of the finest standardbreds in the world competing for some huge stakes. We’ve also been blessed with Sire Stakes and Stallion Series races just about every night of late. Through all of that, our overnight races continue to produce outstanding performances. It’s not easy to choose the very best out of such a wealth of talent, but that’s what we’ll try to do as we hand out the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: FATEFUL CHOICE
When a horse is a part of a barn as successful as that of trainer Chris Oakes and it isn’t winning with regularity, it can almost seem like an underachiever. In the case of 4-year-old gelding Fateful Choice, it may just have been a case early this year of running up against top competition while not quite on his best game. The result was just a single win in ten races to start the 2014 season.
A drop down in class on June 3 to the non-winners of $7,000 in the last five starts did the trick though, as Fateful Choice found his confidence and his stride in a big way, blowing the field away by 4 ¼ lengths in 1:49:2, a new career-best. Bouyed by the victory, he moved up to take on a tougher group of non-winners of $12,500 in the last five starts on Saturday night.
Driver Anthony Napolitano stayed aggressive with Fateful Choice, sending him to the front end, then rated him very well to the half. At that point, the gelding was a powerhouse and scorched the dirt on his way to his second sub-1:50 victory, this one coming in 1:49:4. All of a sudden, Fateful Choice has the look of so many other of his stablemates. In other words, he looks awful tough to beat.
Other top pacers this week include: Bushwacker (George Napolitano Jr., Chris Ryder), who moved to two-for-two on the season with another impressive condition win on Sunday night, this one coming in 1:51; Colossal Cruiser (Simon Allard, Rene Allard), who took a huge step up in class Saturday night to the $20,000 claimers and still picked up his second straight victory, doing so in a career-best 1:50; and Bolt The Duer (Mark MacDonald, Peter Foley), who tuned up in anticipation of the Ben Franklin pace at Pocono by dominating a Preferred group on Saturday night in the week’s fastest time of 1:48:2.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: IL MAGO
This 5-year-old stallion from the Mark Harder barn has been exceptional since arriving at Pocono for a condition trot on June 4. That was just his second start following a layoff of two months, but there was no rust evident whatsoever as he took the lead on the front stretch and then gutted out a tough stretch drive to win by a neck in 1:53:3.
On Tuesday night, Il Mago was back at it against the non-winners of $12,500 in the last five starts once again, albeit this time in a slightly tougher post on the outer half of the field. Andrew McCarthy was still able to fire the stallion out of the gate and reach the front end before the quarter-pole. He was also able to slow the pace down with fractions almost identical to Il Mago’s previous win.
In the stretch, a couple horses drew to within striking distance, but McCarthy called on the afterburners and Il Mago responded. The result was a second straight victory with the same time of 1:53:3 from the previous week. That kind of consistent excellence is the stuff of long winning streaks, so watch out for this talented trotted in the weeks to come even if he moves up in class.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Not Afraid (Jim Morrill Jr., Jimmy Takter), who followed up a win at the Meadowlands with a Preferred win on Saturday night at Pocono in a new career mark of 1:51:4, which was also fastest trotting time of the week at MSPD; Bikini So Teeny (Charlie Norris trainer and driver, who won her second straight on Wednesday night, this one coming in Stallion Series company in a career-best 1:55; and Designed To Be (Brian Sears, Julie Miller), whose Sire Stakes win on Wednesday night matched a world record for 3-year-old trotting fillies on a 5/8-mile oval with a winning time of 1:51:3.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: ROYAL ENGAGEMENT
Despite being laid off since a May 2nd victory in California, this mare with Andrew McCarthy in the bike rallied for a claiming pacing win on Sunday night at 23-1 for a $48.40 payout on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: ANTHHON NAPOLITANO
A-Nap looks poised for his best season ever at Pocono, especially after a week in which he had mutilple wins in three of the four racing nights.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: JULIE MILLER
Miller had a wonderful night at the Sire Stakes on Wednesday, sweeping both divisions of the 3-year-old trotting fillies with her trainees Take The Money and Designed To Be.
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 30, 2014 | Racing
May 10-16, 2014
For the past few years, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs has been the place to be if you wanted to witness world records being set. The combination of top-notch racing and a speedy track surface has torn the record books to shreds. It usually takes nice weather conditions for world records to fall, however, which is probably why the chilly first month-and-a-half of the meet didn’t produce any. But conditions were ripe on Saturday night, and, lo and behold, our first world record of the season fell. That stellar performance highlights the Weekly Awards.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: CLASSIC MARTINE
Trainer Chris Oakes is one of Pocono’s biggest success stories over the years, a local trainer whose horses compete on a national level in some of the biggest races of the country. Classic Martine, a four-year-old mare, is certainly one of those superstar performers. After a stellar 3-year-old season which included a dead heat win the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship with fellow Oakes trainee Frau Blucher, she started 2014 hot as well with a win at The Meadows in Preferred company on April 30.
On Saturday night, she took to the stage in a Preferred trot at Pocono, only this time she was facing the stallions and geldings instead of other mares. Still, she was made the 3-5 favorite based on her impressive history, and driver Brett Miller drove her aggressively and sent her to the lead on the front stretch. From there, she had to deal with relentless first-over pressure from Coraggioso.
That pressure led to sizzling fractions throughout the race, but Classic Martine rose to the challenge, speeding home three-quarters of a length in front of Coraggioso in an unbelievably fast 1:51:2. Not only did that break the world record for 4-year-old trotting mares of 1:51:4, it also set the mark for the fastest trotting time ever achieved by a female trotter on a 5/8-mile oval. That’s not bad for just her second start of the year. Who else wants to see what she can do the rest of the season?
Other top trotters this week include: DWs Jasmine (Jim Morrill Jr., Peter Pellegrino), a mare who moved up in class to the $10,000 claimers on Sunday night and came away with her second straight win in 1:56, matching her career-best time; Ibanez (Matt Kakaley, Ron Burke), who shipped in from The Meadows and captured Tuesday night’s featured claiming handicap in 1:54:2, a new career mark; and Skyline Road (Jim Morrill Jr., Bill Mullin), who moved up in class but still reeled off his third straight condition win on Wednesday night in a career-best time of 1:52:4.
PACER OF THE WEEK: NITRO SEELSTER
Sunday night’s featured condition pace for colts, stallions, and geldings who were non-winners of four races was stacked with shippers from other tracks who had been impressive in their previous starts. When that occurs, sometimes the horses who had already been racing at Pocono are overlooked. Sometimes it’s justified, but other times, as in the case of Nitro Seelster, it’s a mistake.
Despite having won in the same class in his previous start in 1:51:3, the 4-year-old gelding from the barn of trainer Douglas Hamilton was let go at 10-1 odds. But driver Brett Miller drove him with confidence, sending him to the lead around the first turn and burning it up with imposing fractions. All of the talented shippers took their shots, but none could get by.
In the stretch, Nitro Seelster faced a determined bid from Rock Out but held up strong for the victory by three-quarters of a length. Tripping the line in 1:49 was extremely impressive, especially considering that the gelding didn’t start racing until this season, skipping his two and three-year-old campaigns. The bottom line is that this young pacer needs to be considered a force no matter where his composition originates.
Honorable mention on the pacing side goes to: Emeritus Maximus (Andrew McCarthy, Thomas Cancelliere), who fired up a late rally to win the week’s featured Preferred pace on Saturday night in 1:49:4; South Pacific (Andrew McCarthy, Thomas Cancelliere), who moved up in class on Tuesday night and scored his second straight victory in 1:51:1, which was the fastest in his career; and Ring Leda (George Napolitano Jr., Lou Pena),who survived an outside post to score his second straight claiming win on Wednesday night, matching his career-best of 1:51 in the process.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: PAINKILLER
This 3-year-old gelding with Tyler Buter in the bike snuck up the passing lane late on Tuesday night in a condition pace as a 24-1 shot and came home a winner, paying off $51.40 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: ANDREW MCCARTHY
It seems like McCarthy becomes more of a force every year at Pocono, and he stepped it up this week with driving triples on Saturday and Tuesday.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: CHRIS OAKES
We mentioned Chris’ success with Classic Martine earlier in the article, but it was an all-around outstanding week for his barn, as he scored five training wins at Pocono.
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 30, 2014 | Racing
May 14, 2014
Stevensville posted the fastest winning time among five divisions of the Stallion Series on Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The races were for three-year-old colts and geldings on the pace, and each carried a purse of $20,000.
Driven by Tim Tetrick and trained by Ray Schnittker, Stevensville (Somebeachsomewhere-Wild West Show) won his division in 1:50:2. That’s the fastest time posted by a 3-year-old colt on a 5/8-mile oval so far in 2014.
Other Stallion Series winners were: Superficial (Art Official-Lovin A Fool), driven by Ron Pierce and trained by Mike Dowdall, in 1:51:4; War Front (Somebeachsomewhere-Vesta Blue Chip), driven by Ron Pierce and trained by Chris Oakes, in 1:51:3; Heart Felt (Well Said-Btwnyurheartnmine), driven by David Miller and trained by Jim Arledge Jr., in 1:51:3; and Workandplayhard (Western Terror-Slice Of Life), driven by Mike Simons and trained by John Butenschoen, in 1:51:1.
May 30, 2014 | Racing
May 10, 2014
Classic Martine trotted faster than any distaff trotter on a 5/8-mile oval in harness racing history on Saturday night when she rolled to victory in a $25,000 Preferred trot at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.
Classic Martine (Classic Photo-Drinking Days), a 4-year-old mare from the Chris Oakes barn making just her second start of the season after a stellar 2013, left from post position #5 in a field of seven as the 3-5 favorite. The mare sat second early behind Fearless Man before jumping to the lead on the front stretch. She took pressure from Coraggioso first-over for most of the second half of the mile, but, with Simon Allard in the bike, held him off by three-quarters of a length for the victory. Fearless Man finished third.
The winning time of 1:51:2 not only broke the world record of 1:51:4 for her age group, which was set by Maven in a Breeders Crown elimination at Pocono in October, it also broke the all-ages distaff trotting record on a 5/8-mile oval of 1:51:3, shared my Check Me Out and Cooler Schooner.
Classic Martine, owned by Susan Oakes, Conrad Zurich, Earl Gold, and Hauser Brothers Racing Enterprises, is now two-for-two in 2014. It was her 14th career win in just 29 starts, and she pushed her lifetime earnings to $566,224.
In other action on Saturday night at Pocono, Emeritus Maximus (Rocknoll Hanover-Eternity’s Delight) rallied late from far back for a victory in the $25,000 Preferred pace. Driven by Andrew McCarthy for trainer Tom Cancelliere, the 4-year-old gelding got away at 8-1 but corralled even-money favorite All Star Legend in the stretch to win by a neck in 1:49:3a. Eighteen finished third.
Nov 15, 2013 | Racing
Well, racing fans, we have just about reached the end of another amazing racing season at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The Pocono meet ends up with a pair of added racing nights on Friday, November 22, and Saturday, November 23, a little more icing on what has been a particularly rich and tasty cake. After that, time to settle in, enjoy the holidays, and look forward to next year.
Still, for me anyway, I’m sure that a lot of those lazy winter days will be spent reflecting on the season that was. 2013 was my sixth year calling the races at Pocono and my 16th year at the track overall, and it was easily the most exciting one that I’ve ever witnessed. That doesn’t in any way denigrate some of the great years we’ve had in the recent past, but it all came together this year.
The obvious catalyst for the ridiculously thrilling action was the racing schedule. For many years, Pocono was home to just a couple of big-money stakes per year. That number of stakes races has steadily increased to the point where Pocono was pretty much the hub of the harness racing universe in 2013. There were three nights during the season that were dedicated to nothing but stakes races of the highest caliber, and each of those nights lived up to their lofty expectations, culminating with the scintillating thrills of Breeders Crown night in October.
Because of this abundance of stakes races held at MSPD in 2013, the local fans got several opportunities to witness the finest stars in the standardbred galaxy. When they name the sport’s horses of the year for 2013, it’s a safe bet that they will all have raced multiple times at the Pocono oval this season. Indeed some of the biggest names, like Captaintreacherous, I Luv The Nitelife, Bee A Magician, and Foiled Again, had their most memorable triumphs on the Pocono stage.
The easiest way to tell just how competitive the racing action has been in 2013 is to check out our track records page in the front of the program. A quick perusal of that page will show you that a stunning 20 of 24 groupings, which are separated by age, gait, and gender, have records which were set this season. Of those, 17 either set or matched world records for tracks that are 5/8-mile long like Pocono.
It is easy to get swept up in the equine accomplishments, but their human stars of the sport also helped to make Pocono racing so memorable. At press time, George Napolitano Jr. and Chris Oakes were poised to repeat as leaders in driving victories and training average, respectively. Rene Allard is headed to his first ever title in training wins. In driving UDRS, it was still too close to call between Jim Morrill Jr. and Ron Pierce.
Of course, those guys we mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg. The Pocono driving community continues to be one of the most competitive groups in the country. In addition to Napolitano, Pierce, and Morrill, Matt Kakaley, Andrew McCarthy, and Tyler Buter all topped 100 wins this season at MSPD. Six more drivers had at least 50 victories, including Pocono newcomers Marcus Miller and Simon Allard.
The training colony was equally rugged. What was notable this season was how many of the nation’s top trainers made Pocono a destination instead of a pit stop. As a result, many of the names on the Pocono training leaderboard coincided with the list of the nation’s top statistical trainers. Oakes, Allard, and Ron Burke were the biggest winners on the training side, but the victories and purses were parceled out to a wide roster of excellent handlers in 2013.
There are far too many individual moments to recount in this relatively short article, but suffice it to say that I could have gone on for quite some time detailing all of the star-making performances and jaw-dropping upsets that kept the faithful on their toes all year long. I have the best seat in the house up in my announcer’s booth, and this year has never ceased to amaze, right from Opening night through these chilly final weeks.
As always, it’s been a pleasure and an honor to have this opportunity to share my thoughts and spread the facts about the racing at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The best thing about 2013 might the feeling that I get that tells me that this year won’t be an aberration in terms of its quality and excitement. It feels like seasons like 2013 will be commonplace at the Pocono in the years to come.
So enjoy the final nights of racing at Pocono for this season and make sure to have a great holiday season. Until next year, we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
