Jun 7, 2012 | Racing
June 1-7, 2012
Even though the summer weather didn’t quite arrive with it, the month of June brought hot racing action to Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. In fact, it was the first week of our new five-night-a-week summer schedule. All of those races mean that the battle for the Weekly Awards was extremely competitive. Let’s see who gets the nod.
PACER OF THE WEEK: OL’ MAN RIVER
This 7-year-old gelding has a name that suggests a slow and steady kind of pacer. Yet he has been anything but that at Pocono the past few weeks. He won back-to-back condition paces on May 16 and May 25, the latter coming in a career-best 1:50:1. Trainer and driver Matt Romano decided to change the scenery for Ol’ Man River and try him out against our toughest claimers for an $18,000 purse on Saturday night.
What has been impressive in the winning streak for Ol’ Man River has been his ability to win in different ways. His versatility has allowed him to win on the front end and from the pocket, and on Saturday night he was forced to sit back off the pace due to blistering early fractions. Romano found some cover for him on the outside, allowing him a clear shot in the stretch.
Ol’ Man River wasn’t about to blow that opportunity. He zipped by his cover to pick up the win in another sizzling mile of 1:50:3. That makes three in a row, meaning that Ol’ Man River is certainly rolling along, albeit in much faster fashion than his name might imply.
Other top pacers this week include: Cinderella Guy (Eric Carlson, Ken Rucker), whose condition win on Saturday night was his third victory in his last four and came in the week’s fastest pacing time of 1:49:3; Ahead Ofthe Curve (Eric Carlson, Paul Holzman), who moved up in class to beat a group of $15,000 claimers on Saturday night, which was his third straight win and came in a career-best time of 1:50:4; and Kel’s Return (George Napolitano Jr., Pierre Paradis), who churned out his third straight claiming win on Sunday night, a victory over $7,500 claimers in 1:51:4.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: BIG RIGS
Each week the best trotters on the Pocono grounds go toe-to-toe in a condition for winners of over $25,000 lifetime. It’s always quite a battle, and the horses pegged to be the favorites often find the target on their backs to be a bit daunting. In this week’s contest, held on Sunday night, the favorite’s mantle was hung on shipper Big Rigs.
The 4-year-old stallion from the barn of trainer Kelly O’Donnell was a top competitor in Open competition at Harrah’s earlier this year and recently finished 4th against a knockout field at the Meadowlands in the $210,000 Cutler Stakes. As a 1-5 favorite on Sunday night, Big Rigs found himself having to come from off the pace and go out wide in the stretch.
Even with those concerns, the stallion was ready to roll once the field straightened out in the stretch. Showing some serious late kick, Big Rigs rolled on by the leaders, winning by a half-length in 1:52:4, easily the fastest trotting time of the week. The win was his 11th career victory, which might not seem like much until you see that his lifetime earnings now stand at $634,436.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Decolletage (Tom Jackson, Fred Grant), a mare who knocked off the boys in a Friday condition trot and overcame an off-track to post a career-best time of 1:55:1; Four Starz Conway (Brandon Simpson, Peter Pellegrino), who followed up a win at Monticello with a victory at Pocono against the $7,500 claimers in 1:58:4; and Mama Made Me Blue (Brandon Simpson trainer and driver), who moved up in class and matched his career best of 1:54:4 in his second straight condition trotting win on Wednesday night.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: K SLATER
This shipper from Yonkers was overlooked in a condition pace on Saturday night to the tune of 23-1, but, with Howard Parker in the bike, he rallied late for the upset, paying off $48.40 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: TOM JACKSON
Jackson has been a factor at Pocono for the better part of a decade, and he’s heating up in 2012, picking up 7 wins this week, including doubles on Friday, Sunday, and Tuesday.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: PAUL HOLZMAN
Holzman is a relatively new face on the Pocono scene, but that hasn’t stopped him from racking up the wins, including three more this week with a training double on Saturday night.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Oct 6, 2011 | Racing, Uncategorized
October arrived with wet weather and cold temperatures across much of the Northeast, and Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs wasn’t spared from the dreary stuff. Luckily, that weather didn’t put a damper on any of the great action, as some standout performances were to be found across the five racing programs last week. Here are some of the best of those efforts, honored, as always, by our Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: CINDERELLA GUY
There were several excellent candidates for this award this week, but we’re going with this gelding from the Ken Rucker barn for his excellent performance among the highest levels of the pacing ranks. Cinderella Guy was having a solid season heading into the fall, but he has really picked up the pace as the leaves have begun changing. On September 24, he knocked off a front-running victory over the non-winners of $22,000 pacers, scoring in 1:50:2.
On Saturday night, like the rest of the competition, he had to deal with a relentless rain and a sloppy track at Pocono. In addition, he was stepping up in class to the winners of over $25,000 grouping, a class that is just a notch below the Open pacers. Yet there he was once again on the front end, spurred on by driver Tyler Buter, daring the field to try and catch him.
Well, they couldn’t catch him. Cinderella Guy was just too powerful, hustling home to win by 1 ½ lengths. The winning time of 1:51:3 was hard-earned, especially considering the track conditions. The gelding has earned over $132,000 this year along, and Saturday night’s victory was the 25th of his outstanding career.
Other top pacers this week include: Wahine (Tyler Buter, Tony Alagna), who starred in the Equinox series for 2-year-olds on Thursday afternoon with a win over the pacing colts and geldings in 1:54, his second straight win in the series and his 5th victory in 7 lifetime races; Forever Ivy (Matt Kakaley, Charlie Norris), who ripped off her third straight win by taking the featured fillies and mares pace on Wednesday night in 1:51:4; and Stonebridge Tonic (Anthony Napolitano, Mark Ford), whose Open win on Saturday night in 1:50:3 gave him five straight wins at four different tracks.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: MACHO LINDY
Back in 2008, before the era of blistering times at Pocono, Macho Lindy came out one afternoon in a condition trot and blew the field away to the tune of 1:52, which at the time was the fastest mile ever trotted on a 5/8-mile oval in North America. Even now, three years later, only a few miles faster have ever been trotted at Pocono, and Macho Lindy’s time still stands as a track record for 4-year-old geldings.
He has continued to have success in the interim, and a few weeks back he returned to MSPD after spending much of the summer at Chester. His first start back on September 23 was over before it began when he made a rare break. On Friday night, Macho Lindy, now in the Ron Coyne Jr. barn, found himself in the featured winners of over $25,000 lifetime trot.
Leaving from post position #7, the 7-year-old veteran gunned to the front end under the guidance of driver George Napolitano Jr. Once there, the old Pocono muscle memory kicked in, and he held up against intense pressure. Macho Lindy came out on top by a neck in 1:54:3 over a top-flight field. No records broken this time around, but it was, nonetheless, a scintillating return.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Pembroke Prayer (George Napolitano Jr., Mark Ford), a shipper from New York who scored in Friday night’s other division of the winners of over $25,000 lifetime class, doing so in 1:54:4; Groom Hanover (Joe Pavia Jr., Fred Grant), who followed up a win at The Meadows with a condition win at Pocono on Friday night in 1:57:2; and Ashcroft (Mike Simons, Gail Wrubel), whose claiming win on Wednesday was his second straight upset victory and came in a career-best time of 1:56:1.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: WINDELL WINKIE
The shipper came into a condition trot on Friday night with 4 wins in 9 starts in 2011, yet he was still a 35-1 shot when he rallied for the victory, paying out $73.20 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: GEORGE NAPOLITANO JR.
George has been keeping a particularly hot pace of late, as he ripped off multiple wins in several cards this week, highlighted by a five-bagger on Friday.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: LINDA SCHADEL
Year in and year out, Linda does an excellent job with the trotters. She scored two trotting wins on Thursday, including an Equinox series victory with Keystone Tempo.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
