Jan 4, 2013 | Racing
The exciting Breeders Crown series will be held once again at the record-breaking Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs 5/8 mile red oval on Saturday, October 19, 2013.
The historic track held the series in October of 2010, and was the first track to host all 12 races, worth $6 million, in one night. Crowds from as far away as Canada, California, and Florida lined the apron to witness history in the making and several world records.
“Due to the huge success of 2010, we are excited to host the 2013 Breeders Crown”, said Vice President of Racing Operations, Dale Rapson. “The Hambletonian Society Board of Directors have stated that they felt that the 2010 Breeders Crown, held at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, was one of the most successful ever held. They are as enthusiastic to come back as we are to have them. Of course, this cannot have happened without the ongoing support, participation, and cooperation of the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association.”
Tom Charters, President of the Hambletonian Society, was equally enthusiastic about the partnership. “The opportunity to return to Pocono Downs in 2013 is very exciting,”, he said. “ Mohegan Sun and the Pennsylvania horsemen (PHHA) were terrific hosts in 2010. Building on that memorable record-breaking night, the Hambletonian Society is looking forward to partnering with them again on what will be a spectacular event for the entire harness industry.”
Sam Beegle, President of the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association, announced that the PHHA would award a $1 million bonus if the same horse wins the Earl Beal, Jr. Memorial Trot, the Colonial Trot, and the Breeders Crown 3-Year-Old Colt Trot.
The 29-year-old Breeders Crown series has typically crowned champions in every division for trotters and pacers and been the deciding factor in Horse of the Year honors. A Breeders Crown title has become one of the most coveted honors in harness racing. The series has encompassed the entire North American continent and reflected the ambience and local flavor of each of the host markets.
Nov 17, 2012 | Racing
2012 Season Review
Well, racing fans, we’ve come to that point in the year where we wrap things up at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The season closes out on Wednesday night, November 21 with the 140th racing night of the campaign. After that, MSPD racing goes on hiatus until March of 2013.
Since we are so near the end, it’s time to put on a bow on this season by looking back at some of the memorable performances that Pocono racing fans have witnessed over the past 7 ½ months. We talked about the horses of the year a week ago in this column. Let’s take a little time now to honor the top drivers and trainers from this outstanding season just about gone by.
On the driving side, it was another stellar season for George Napolitano Jr. who rocketed back to the top of the standings in driving wins. George also was in a battle for the UDRS title, a percentage akin to a baseball batting average measuring driving efficiency, with Jim Morrill Jr., and that race might even come down to the final night.
George Nap was not the only driver to have success this season however, as our balanced racing community at Pocono produced eight men with over 100 wins in the meet. Those eight drivers were mixed evenly between veterans like Napolitano, Morrill, Mike Simons, and Joe Pavia Jr. and younger pilots who have already established themselves as forces like Matt Kakaley, Tyler Buter, Andrew McCarthy, and Eric Carlson. Carlson accomplished the feat in his first ever year at MSPD.
On the training side, Chris Oakes once again dominated the proceedings. He held a huge advantage in training UDRS all season long, and he pulled away from Ron Burke for the training wins crown in the season’s final weeks. In addition to Oakes and Burke, there have been a number of trainers celebrating excellent seasons in 2012. The other trainers rounding out the Top 10 in victories in 2012: Kent Sherman, Erv Miller, Amber Buter, Jason Robinson, Rene Allard, Paul Holzman, Brewer Adams, and Mark Ford.
2012 also was a great year for track records, proving once again that the competition keeps getting better and faster at Pocono. Out of 24 categories which separate horses by age, gait, and gender, 13 records were set in 2012. In other words, more than half of the existing records fell by the wayside.
Our two most prestigious records, fastest pace and fastest trot for all ages and genders, came under assault in 2012, not surprisingly in the two biggest stakes races held all season at Pocono. Betterthancheddar captured the Ben Franklin pace in 1:48, matching the all-time pacing mark set a season ago by We Will See. On that same June day in the Earl Beal Memorial trot, Googoo Gaagaa put together a ridiculous performance for a victory in 1:50:4, the fastest mile ever trotted, not just at Pocono, but on any 5/8-mile oval.
In addition to those two amazing records, Economy Terror managed a feat that will be hard to match. After setting the track mark for two-year-old placing fillies at the Pennsylvania Championships in 2011, she came back as a 3-year-old and defended her state title, once again breaking a track record in the process. That makes Economy Terror, the pride of the Oakes’ barn, the only horse to have two records on the Pocono ledger.
Those were just a few examples of what has been another tremendous season of racing at MSPD. Even as we come to one meet’s completion, it’s hard not to look forward to what’s ahead in 2013. That’s because the Breeders Crown, harness racing’s year-end championship races, will once again be hosted by Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.
We hosted the Breeders Crown for the first time back in 2010, and it was such a ringing success that we all hoped that it wouldn’t be too long before it returned. We are honored to be the location for the best of the best in harness racing, who will duke it out for bragging rights and hundreds of thousands of dollars in purse money.
In the meantime, it’s time to put the 2012 season to bed. It has once again been an honor to call the races for the Pocono faithful, and, as always, I’ve enjoyed writing these columns to highlight the very best of the racing at our track. There are too many co-workers to thank for all their efforts in bringing racing to you all; suffice it to say they all have harder jobs than me and they do them splendidly to make sure the racing product at Pocono is the best in the country.
Finally, I’d like to thank our fans, the most loyal and knowledgeable around, for their continued support of MSPD racing. I hope you all have a wonderful winter, and I look forward to seeing you all again for what should be an amazing 2013 meet.
Until then, that will do it for this year, but, after a little time off, we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Sep 22, 2012 | Racing
September 14-20, 2012
We had only two nights of live racing this past week at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, so the Weekly Awards will have to take a little hiatus until next week. Instead, I thought we’d play a little game of “Where Are They Now?”
If you’re like me, you’re fascinated by all those shows which reveal the whereabouts of celebrities from yesteryear who haven’t stayed in the limelight. Only in our case, the celebrities are of the four-legged variety, particularly those horses who won the four major stakes races at Pocono this season.
What this little exercise should show is just how good those four horses are and that their moments in the spotlight at Pocono were indicative of the way that they’ve performed at other tracks around the country. It should also show that the MSPD stakes schedule, with its hefty purses attached, now attracts the best of the best in the harness racing world.
Our first major stakes race of the season, the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial Trot for 3-year-olds on June 23, was a coming out party for the amazing Googoo Gaagaa. Up to that point, he had been a regional phenomenon for trainer Richard Hans in his home state of Maryland, but his ridiculous win in 1:50:4 in the Beal seemed to serve notice that he was the best sophomore trotter in the nation.
His skeptics had plenty to crow about when he went off stride in his following starts at Yonkers and The Meadowlands. Hans sent him back to Maryland for a confidence-building win in Maryland, then returned him to the fray to face the best of the best, including Hambletonian champ Market Share, in the Colonial at Harrah’s on August 18. Googoo Gaagaa proved definitively that the Beal was no fluke that day, whipping his competition for a victory in 1:52:1.
On June 30, we witnessed one of the sport’s true superstars as 3-year-old filly pacer American Jewel rolled in the final of the James Lynch Memorial stakes. That put her career record at 12 wins in 14 tries, meaning the filly didn’t know much about defeat. She would find out in her next three starts, hitting the board in consecutive stakes races at The Meadowlands, Tioga, and Harrah’s, but failing to pick up a victory in any of those tough battles.
When you’re a filly with as much talent as American Jewel, the near-misses just aren’t going to cut it. That’s why trainer Jimmy Takter had to be pleased when she righted herself with a win in her last start in Canada in the Simcoe stakes. With that win in tow, she appears to be in prime shape for the upcoming Breeders Crown.
When A Rocknroll Dance headed into the Max Hempt Memorial for 3-year-old pacers at Pocono on June 30, he was in the midst of a slump. As a result, despite an outstanding 2-year-old campaign in 2011, the colt from the Jim Mulinix barn went off as a 17-1 shot. He found his stride that day, however, buzzing by the leaders late to pull off the upset.
Buoyed by his win in the Hempt, the colt has since moved into the upper echelon of 3-year-old pacers in the country. A win in the prestigious Meadowlands Pace solidified that standing, and his victory in the Battle of the Brandywine at Harrah’s in August was one of the signature performances of the racing season.
Has there been a better pacer in the country this year than the amazing Betterthancheddar? Trained by Casie Coleman, the 4-year-old put together a thrilling, front-pacing win in the Ben Franklin free-for-all pace at Pocono on June 30, matching the track’s fastest ever pacing time with a mile of 1:48. Coleman then took him back to Canada for three straight victories.
Betterthancheddar was upset by the great Foiled Again in the Canadian Derby at Mohawk, but he quickly bounced back to beat that horse and other top pacers in the Bobby Quiller Memorial at Harrington on September 17. He has legitimate Horse of the Year aspirations.
So, as you can see, the horses that have made their mark at Pocono have gone on to perform with excellence at their subsequent destinations. Maybe we shouldn’t be asking, “Where are they now?” after all. Maybe the proper question is, “What will they do next?”
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]
Aug 7, 2012 | Racing
July 27-August 2, 2012
We only had two nights of racing this past week at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. That fact makes doing a Weekly Awards pretty impossible, since there aren’t that many candidates and a pretty small sample size from which to choose.
The reason for the short racing week was an 80’s-themed weekend at the track featuring some of the artists who populated the music charts in that wild and woolly decade. With that in mind, I thought I’d use this column to take a look back at some of the memorable performances from the first half of the racing season this week, and, since I’m a child of the 80’s myself, I thought I’d give them an 80’s music flair.
THE “WHAT ABOUT ME” AWARD: IT’SABOUTTIME
The song was a rather melodramatic ballad from the Australian one-hit wonders Moving Pictures that had some success back in ’82. You can’t blame It’sabouttime, a pacer from the Linda Kakaley barn, for asking the same question. After all he won a $5,000 claimer on July 1 at hefty odds of 42-1. Two weeks later, he moved up in class to the $10,000 claimers, and bettors overlooked him again to the tune of 33-1. He won that race as well. Two huge long-shot victories in the span of three weeks for this pacer means that the only ones asking, “What about me?” were the people who bet on him as they lined up to collect their big winnings at the teller windows.
THE “YOU DROPPED A BOMB ON ME” AWARD: CELEBRITY SCANDAL
One of the funkiest songs of the 80’s was this ’82 smash by The Gap Band which came complete with bottle-rocket sound effects. In racing, a bomber is another name for a long shot, and there was no bigger long shot on a June Wednesday night that Celebrity Scandal in a condition pace to close out the card. The tote board read 99-1, but, in actuality, he went off at a staggering 185-1. In the stretch, however, Mike Simons guided the pacer home to a monster upset, paying off at $373.20 for a $2 win ticket, the biggest win price I’ve seen in my 15 years at Pocono.
THE “ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST” AWARD: BILLMAR SCOOTER
Queen was one of the few successful bands in the 70’s that were able to parlay that into hit records in the 80’s, kicking off the decade with this monster smash that crossed all kinds of genres. It’s been the theme song for the mare Billmar Scooter, who has spent all of her time this year at Pocono facing the finest pacing mares on the grounds. Eight times she has gone out against the winners of over $25,000 lifetime mares, and she has won six of those races. Trained by Amber Buter and driven by Tyler Buter, this excellent pacer is certainly an early favorite for Mare of the Year honors with such an outstanding record in place.
THE “DON’T YOU (FORGET ABOUT ME)” AWARD: A ROCKNROLL DANCE
This song by Simple Minds was immortalized in the 1985 John Hughes classic film, The Breakfast Club. Speaking of immortalized, A Rocknroll Dance seemed on his way to racing stardom after a brilliant 2-year-old season in 2011. But he was struggling a bit this season coming into the Max Hempt Memorial in July, Pocono’s richest race for 3-year-old pacers. As a result, he got away at 17-1, yet driver Yannick Gingras rallied the colt from the Jim Mulinix barn home for the upset win in the Hempt. Following that up with a win in the prestigious Meadowlands Pace, A Rocknroll Dance has proven that forgetting about him isn’t a smart move.
THE “SHE’S A BEAUTY” AWARD: AMERICAN JEWEL
We have seen some outstanding filly pacers make their way through Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs over the past several years, including Southwind Tempo and See You At Peelers, to name a few. Few have been quite so deserving of this award named after a classic by The Tubes. This superstar from the Jimmy Takter barn swept through the James Lynch Memorial for 3-year-old pacing fillies, winning both the elimination and the final, with Tim Tetrick in the bike for each, in identical world-record times.
THE “ONCE IN A LIFETIME” AWARD: GOOGOO GAAGAA
The refrain from this New Wave smash by The Talking Heads is “Same as it ever was.” Well, nothing will ever be the same at Pocono after Googoo Gaagaa’s appearance here for the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial for 3-year-old trotters. In a virtuoso, dare I say once-in-a-lifetime performance, he won the Beal in a ridiculous time of 1:50:4, the fastest time ever trotted by any age on a 5/8-mile oval. Corey Callahan did the driving for trainer Richard Hans. While Googoo Gaagaa has since struggled with keeping stride in his subsequent start, nobody can ever take away what he did that 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].
Jul 14, 2012 | Racing
July 14, 2012
Three divisions of Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action for 3-year-old colts and geldings on the trot took center stage on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. Each of the three divisions carried a purse of $99,438.
Despite being laid off since late May, Top Billing (Andover Hall-NY Starlet) survived a long first-over journey to score as the even-money favorite in the night’s first Sire Stakes division. The 3-year-old colt driven by Tyler Buter for trainer Julie Miller just nosed out Lindys Jersey Boy in 1:53:4, with Solvato finishing third. Top Billing, owned by Jason and Douglas Allen, won for the fourth time in six 2012 races.
In the second Sire Stakes split, My MVP (Cantab Hall-Exceed Expectation), the 1-5 favorite, worked hard to keep the lead after taking over on the back stretch and won by a half-length in 1:53:4. Magic Tonight finished second and Scary Good picked up the show. Mike LaChance drove My MVP for trainer Tony Alagna and owners Brittany Farms, Modern Family Partners, and Joe Sbrocco, as the 3-year-old colt won for the third time this year and second time in Sire Stakes competition.
The final Sire Stakes of the night turned into a thrilling stretch duel between 1-9 favorite Stormin Normand and pocket horse Lightning Storm, with the favorite winning by a nose in 1:52:4. Modern Family finished 3rd. After finishing 2nd in both the Earl Beal Memorial and the Yonkers Trot, Stormin Normand (Broadway Hall-Idole Normand) came up with his eighth win in 12 lifetime starts. Matt Kakaley drove the colt to victory for trainer Jim Campbell and owner Fashion Farms LLC.
In other action on Saturday night, Dynamic Youth won a condition pace, and in so doing, broke a track record for three-year-old geldings on the pace. The previous Pocono record for the grouping of 1:49:4 was set by Goddess’s Justin back in 2008, but that mark went down when Dynamic Youth (Bettor’s Delight-Always True) tripped the line in 1:49:2 with Andrew McCarthy in the bike for trainer Aaron Lambert. The gelding, who hasn’t lost in three outings at Pocono this year, is owned by Ken Tucci, J&T Silva Stables, and C&G Racing Stable.
