Oct 22, 2014 | Racing
October 17, 2014
Regil Elektra rallied from far back early to pull off a major upset in the featured Open Handicap pace for mares on Friday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The race carried the night’s top purse of $35,000.
Leaving from post position #3 in a field of eight, Regil Elektra (Mach Three-Top Time Notcher), a 4-year-old mare from the barn of trainer Monte Gelrod, got away seventh as a battle for the lead produced devastating early fractions. Driver Joe Pavia Jr. set the mare in motion third-over on the back stretch as the outer flow moved up on tiring pacesetter Drop The Ball.
In the stretch, Regil Elektra spun out four wide and powered home in a career-best 1:50:3, holding off fellow long shot Spirit Of Desire by three-quarters of a length. Camille finished third, while Yagonnakissmeornot, the 2-1 favorite fresh off big wins at in Ohio and Kentucky, struggled to seventh.
Regil Elektra, owned by Fred Monteleone Stables, won for the fifth time in 23 2014 races. It was her 17th career victory, pushing her lifetime earnings to $356,191.
Jun 25, 2014 | Racing
June 15, 2014
Drop The Ball coasted to an easy win Sunday Night in the featured Preferred Handicap pace for mares at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The race carried a purse of $25,000.
Leaving from post position #4 in a field of seven as the 3-5 favorite, Drop The Ball (Western Terror-Mattcheck Girl) grabbed the pocket around the first turn behind American In Paris. With one quick brush, the 6-year-old mare from the barn of Ross Croghan took the lead on the front stretch and extended it to a huge margin at the top of the stretch. Driver Simon Allard geared Drop The Ball down from there and she coasted home a two-length winner in an effortless 1:50:1. Strings finished second while Jinglejanglejingle picked up the show.
Drop The Ball won for the second time in six 2014 races. It was her 23rd career win, pushing her lifetime earnings to $1,330,616.
Jun 3, 2014 | Racing
May 25, 2014
Somewhereovrarainbow paced faster than any distaff pacer on a 5/8-mile oval in history in winning a $25,000 Preferred pace for mares on Sunday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.
A four-year-old mare from the Joe Holloway barn, Somewhereovrarainbow (Somebeachsomewhere-Rainbow Blue) left from the outside #7 post as the 2-5 favorite and settled third around the opening turn behind pacesetter Show Runner. After making the lead easily with a front stretch brush, driver Tim Tetrick cut Somewhereovrarainbow loose and she opened up a huge advantage on the outstanding field, until the only question was the winning time. She came home 7 ¼ lengths in front in 1:48. That winning time put her past Drop The Ball, who held both the 4-year-old mare mark of 1:48:4 and the all-ages distaff record of 1:48:2. Krispy Apple was best of the rest in second with Feeling You picking up the show.
Owned by Theodore Gewertz and Diamond Creek Racing, Somewhereovrarainbow won for the sixth time in eight races this season. It was her 18th career win and pushed her lifetime earnings to 1,165,509.
Nov 9, 2013 | Racing
November 1-7, 2013
As we have now reached the month of November, it’s time to start looking back on the season that was. While we still have some racing left to go, we would be remiss if out time ran out and we didn’t honor some of the best performers who have graced the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs stage in 2013. This week I’m proud to announce our 2013 Horses of the Year.
Although I had a little bit of input, most of the work in terms of tracking the best performances and making the selections was done by our Racing Marketing Manager Jennifer Starr and Clerk of Course Terri Phalen. It’s a difficult job, because of the sheer amount of great horses we have seen at the Pocono oval this season. These are fine choices though, a quartet of horses who are representative of the exemplary racing product that MSP had to offer in 2013. The envelopes, please.
PACER OF THE YEAR: DYNAMIC YOUTH
This 4-year-old gelding from the Aaron Lambert barn has been a standout at Pocono for a while now, but his 2013 season was one to remember. He made just six starts at MSPD this season, all against top-flight competition, and won four of them. All four of his victories, with his regular Pocono driver Andrew McCarthy aboard, came in times of less than 1:50.
Dynamic Youth delivered some especially eye-opening wins this year. In June, he won elimination for the Ben Franklin pace in a field that included superstar pacers Betterthancheddar, Clear Vision, and Golden Receiver. On October 5, his second of back-to-back wins in the Preferred pacing class came in a scorching time of 1:48:1, which matched a world record for 4-year-old geldings on the pace. No other horse had such consistent success at the top levels at Pocono than this one, which is why Dynamic Youth is deserving of this outstanding honor.
TROTTER OF THE YEAR: BEATGOESON HANOVER
A 5-year-old mare trained by Nifty Norman, Beatgoeson Hanover served notice that she would special at Pocono this season with her very first start of the meet, a condition win back in April 27 that came in 1:52:1, matching a track record for aged trotting mares. She followed that up with a Preferred win the next week.
When she returned to the Preferred trotting class at Pocono in August, she outdid herself with a winning mile of 1:51:4 with Tyler Buter in the bike, which broke not just her own track record but a world record for her age group on a 5/8-mile oval. Add in a respectable 5th place performance in the Breeders Crown finals and another easy Preferred win on October 26 and you can see why this mare gets the nod in this very competitive category.
MARE OF THE YEAR: FEELING YOU
The pride of the Amber Buter barn is without a doubt this gutty 6-year-old mare. Pocono has been just one of her stops this season and she has made the rounds to just about all of the best East Coast tracks. But it was her performance against the best distaff pacers at MSPD that earned her this award.
In five starts in the Preferred Mares pacing class, which is the top of the heap for distaffers at Pocono, Feeling You, with Tyler Buter in the bike, won three times and finished a close second in the other two. Last Friday night may have been her signature victory. Following a disappointing 7th-place finish in the Breeders Crown, she won a Preferred Handicap over a field that included Rocklamation, who finished 2nd in the Breeders Crown, and Drop The Ball, the world record holder in the age group. That victory shows that Feeling You was as good as any pacing mare this season.
CLAIMER OF THE YEAR: ST. PETE STAR
This was probably the toughest category to choose, because there were many claimers who had dominant stretches in their respective divisions. St Pete Star gets the nod for the fact that he put together an impressive record and did so when he was either near or at the very top of the claiming ladder.
Although he tailed off at the end of the season, St Pete Star, a 9-year-old stallion, had an awesome stretch from late April to the middle of August where he won eight of thirteen races and raised his claiming price from $15,000 to $25,000 in the process. He won for five different trainers in that span because he was a popular claiming commodity. At one point he won four in a row and six of seven, with a career-best victory of 1:49:2 in that span. All of those statistics tell you what anybody who saw St Pete Star at the peak of his powers this year would know: That he was the best of the best of the claimers at Pocono in 2013.
Next week we’ll wrap up the season with our final article of the year. Until then, we’ll see at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Jun 23, 2013 | Racing
June 14-20, 2013
What an amazing week of racing we all just witnessed at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. In a year that will see the track host The Breeders Crown in October, we’re already getting a taste of the incendiary action to come. This past week offered Stallion Series races, Pennsylvania Sire Stakes races, and a world record-matching performance. Let’s take a look at it all by passing out the Weekly Awards.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: GUCCIO
What is it about trainer Jimmy Takter and four-year-old trotting stallions at Pocono? On June 8 in a $25,000 Preferred trot, Takter trainee Uncle Peter delivered a stunning performance in his victory, trotting the mile in 1:51:1. That not only set a track record for the age and gender grouping but it also smashed a world record for the group on a 5/8-mile oval.
Takter was at it again in Saturday night’s Preferred event, only this time he brought in another 4-year-old stallion named Guccio. Guccio had been seasoned against ruggedly tough trotters at The Meadowlands and was made the 2-5 favorite in the race. Takter also did the driving and positioned his horse perfectly behind a speed duel that created unconscious fractions in front of him.
Guccio rolled by his competition in the stretch, ending up 1 ½ lengths out in front of the rest. And what do you think his winning time was? 1:51:1, meaning that he matched the world record that his stablemate just set. I guess the next time you see a Jimmy Takter four-year-old stallion trotting into Pocono, you should watch that timer close to see if another record-breaking performance is in the offing.
Other top trotters this week include: Valley Of Sin (Mike Wilder, John Butenschoen), whose rallying win on Sunday in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action for 3-year-old colts and geldings in a career-best 1:54:1 was his second straight victory at Pocono; Quantum Cashman (Jonathan Drury, Carmen Auciello), who moved up in class to win a claiming handicap trot on Tuesday night in a career-best 1:54:3, his third straight overall and second in a row at Pocono; and Lady Broadway (Jim Morrill Jr., Chris Oakes), a 3-year-old filly who won her third straight, the last two of which have come at Pocono, with a victory in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes competition on Wednesday night in 1:55:2.
PACER OF THE WEEK: BET ON THE LAW
Sometimes it takes a change of tactics to get a horse over the hump. In the case of Bet On The Law, a standout performer for trainer/driver Joe Pavia Jr., he had tried gunning out on the lead in his previous two starts in Preferred paces at Pocono, a style that had served him well in lower classes, only to get caught from behind when facing the best pacers on the grounds.
Saturday night’s $25,000 Preferred pace was loaded with big names and lots of up-front speed, so Pavia decided to try something different. He held Bet On The Law back in the field early while others battled for the lead and did all the work. He then wisely caught the cover of Hurrikane Kingcole on the back stretch to get his horse into contention with a minimum of effort.
In the stretch, while others had already used their best strides, Bet On The Law was just finding his. The 4-year-old gelding blew by his cover and everyone else to win by a length. His winning time of 1:48:4 marked a new career-best, but even more important, this talented pacer showed the versatility necessary to win no matter how a race plays out.
Honorable mention on the pacing side goes to: Best Ears (Jim Morrill Jr., Rene Allard), who followed up a condition win in his previous race with a victory over $25,000 claimers on Saturday night in a scorching career-best time of 1:49:4; Ideal Matters (George Napolitano Jr., Gilberto Garcia-Herrera), who won for the third time in his last four starts with a conquest of a condition pacing field on Saturday in 1:49:3; and Drop The Ball (Corey Callahan, Ross Croghan), who won Sunday night’s Preferred pace for mares in 1:50.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: CAGE FIGHTER
With Andrew McCarthy in the bike, this claiming pacer spiced up the early Daily Double on Wednesday night with a rallying win at 44-1, paying out $91 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: MATT KAKALEY
Kakaley has been on fire for much of the season, but he turned it up with double-figures in wins for the week, including a five-bagger on Tuesday night.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: RON BURKE
Burke started the week off with three training wins on Friday night and didn’t let up from there, as he has slowly but surely ascended to the top of the Pocono training colony in victories for the meet.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].