Jun 10, 2015 | Racing
The third preliminary round of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for three-year-old colt and gelding trotters will be the headliner at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Saturday night, June 13th, with three fields of nine entered in the $223,617 event.
So far this year, “3YO trotting colts in PaSS events” has been almost the same as writing “success for Team Takter,” as the barn of the Hall of Fame won six of the seven sections offered at Harrah’s Philadelphia and The Meadows. The only winner from the “outside world,” Wicker Hanover, has drawn post three in the fourth race first division for driver Andrew McCarthy and trainer Noel Daley. The son of Explosive Matter followed up a second in the first Sires leg with a 1:53 “pocket rocket” triumph, and he may be a major threat to total Takter dominance.
Walter White will carry the hopes of the Takter barn in this division, although he was off the board in the first two legs. But the son of Cantab Hall refamiliarized himself with trotting hopples in a 1:54.3 Meadowlands qualifying win, and could get going here despite post eight. Brett Miller is listed to drive all four of Takter’s entrants throughout the three cuts.
The sixth race second division finds 2014 divisional champion Pinkman looking to run his seasonal tally to 3 for 3, with the altered son of Explosive Matter drawing the midpoint of the starting gate after open-length wins in Sires starts. He will be coupled in the wagering with Whom Shall I Fear, the full brother to Father Patrick, who has drawn post seven.
Making his 2015 seasonal debut in this division is the Cantab Hall colt Billy Flynn, who won all four of his preliminaries and then the Championship in the PA program last year for trainer Staffan Lind. One note of drama – Brett Miller was the regular driver of Billy Flynn last year, and is down on the early sheet to handle him Saturday night. He’ll have to get off somebody …
Miller was behind the Donato Hanover colt Uncle Lasse when that colt exploded to a 1:51.4 win last time out at The Meadows, also making him 2 for 2 in the Sires. The full brother to 2014 Trotter of the Year Shake It Cerry has drawn post seven; starting one notch inside him is the horse who came within a half-length of beating him at The Meadows, Cruzado Dela Noche (Andrew McCarthy), who is trained by … Jimmy Takter’s daughter, Nancy Johannson!
Any number of scenarios could play out in these interesting Sire Stakes matchups Saturday at Pocono, where the first of 14 races is scheduled to go to the track at 6:30 p.m. The night after, Sunday, June 14th, Pocono will host the Stallion Series events for this group.
May 4, 2015 | Racing
Kentucky Derby Day meant a doubleheader of harness racing action at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, with the $50,000 Van Rose Memorial Invitational Pace on the evening card taken by the hot Domethatagain in 1:49, and Whom Shall I Fear and Cruzado Dela Noche both notching 1:55 triumphs among four division of a $128,000 Pennsylvania All-Stars event for sophomore trotting colts in the early card’s headliner. .
Two-hole tactics took Domethatagain, a son of Bettors Delight, to victory in the richest race of the year to date, the $529,000 Levy Final at Yonkers last Saturday, and tonight Domethatagain also parlayed sitting the golden chair to victory in the Van Rose Memorial. Bandolito left strongly from the rail and Domethatagain went out quickly just to his right, discouraging outside leavers from engaging in a brutal fight, and driver Simon Allard sat right on the back of the pacesetter with the winner through splits of 26.1, 55, and 1:21.3.
Allard guided the winner into the famed Pocono Pike passing lane, quickly overtook the leader, and then held off the late bursts of two horses shipping in from Mohawk, Alexa’s Jackpot and Modern Legend, who completed the board spots. Simon and his brother, trainer Rene Allard, have been next to lethal at Pocono, especially on Saturdays, and tonight proved no exception, boosting the lifetime bankroll of Domethatagain to within hailing distance of $850,000 for Allard Racing Inc., Robert Hamather, and Bruce Soulsby.
In the afternoon quartet of trotting features:
Whom Shall I Fear, the full brother to Father Patrick and Pastor Stephen, had to work harder than his brothers usually did in their victories over the last few years, but the son of Cantab Hall kept on grinding steadily to edge pocketsitting Wicker Hanover by a neck in 1:55 to keep the 1-20 favorite’s seasonal record perfect in three seasonal starts. If you read “Pastor Stephen” and “Father Patrick,” you know trainer Jimmy Takter can’t be far behind, with Corey Callahan handling sulky duties for lessee Brixton Medical Inc.
Cruzado Dela Noche, a 1:53.4 Grand circuit winner at Lexington last year, was impressive in his seasonal debut, matching that 1:55 clocking by rallying from nine lengths back at the half to catch frontstepping favorite Suit And Tie by 1¼ lengths. Keeping it “all in the training family,” Nancy Johansson, daughter of Jimmy Takter (and trainer of JK She’salady), conditions Cruzado Dela Noche, and husband Marcus Johannson was in the sulky behind the son of Muscle Massive for Courant A B.
Another native of Sweden, Åke Svanstedt, was in Victory Lane in a third cut after the Andover Hall colt Real DJ Hanover played “pocket rocket” in overhauling pacesetter Piercewave Hanover by a head. The 1:56.2 clocking, in his 2015 debut, was a lifetime mark for the winner, who is trained and was driven by Svanstedt, also co-owner with Torbjorn Swahn.
The fourth division was won by Pocono’s “Trot Man,” diamondgaited driving specialist Mike Simons, and the Yankee Glide colt Boots N Chains, rallying from the two-hole after leaving from outside post seven to catch pacesetting Jacksons Minion by a neck in 1:55.1. Trainer John Butenschoen had his charge sharp for his first start of the campaign while winning for William Wiswell, Jean Goehlen, and Eugene Schick.
Sep 17, 2014 | Racing
September 12-18, 2014
Since there were only two nights of live racing in the past seven days at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs due to the Oktoberfest festivities on the grounds, it seems like a good time to look at the broader picture of harness racing through the Pocono lens. This is the time of year when people start to talk about yearend awards and horses of the year and things like that. We’ve been graced with the presence of many of the year’s best, so let’s examine the performances of the Top 10 horses in the latest Breeders Crown/Hambletonian poll when they travelled to MSPD this year.
Four out of the top ten, #8 JK Shesalady, #7 Artspeak, #5 He’s Watching, and #4 Trixton, have not appeared at Pocono. (Trixton, this year’s Hambletonian champ, did have a winning qualifier at Pocono.) The other six have not only raced here, but they’ve all picked up at least one victory on the Pocono oval this year, often in impressive fashion.
#10 Sandbetweenurtoes, a 3-year-old pacing filly from the Larry Remmen barn, just suffered the first loss of her season with a disappointing seventh in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championships at Harrah’s at Philadelphia. But her lone voyage at Pocono was successful, as she rallied from an early deficit to win a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes race on August 9 in 1:50.
#9 Lifetime Pursuit wasn’t quite on top of her game when she raced at Pocono earlier in the meet, going once across the board in three starts with the win coming in a Pennsylvania All Stars race in June. The 3-year-old trotting filly from the Jimmy Takter barn has been sizzling since, winning her last five races including the Hambletonian Oaks and the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final in her age group.
It’s been an amazing 3-year-old season for pacing colt Mcwicked, trained by Casie Coleman. Much of that success took place at MSPD. He’s won three of four at Pocono in 2014. Although his record includes wins in the prestigious Adios and in the Pennsylvania Championships, his signature victory for the year was likely his incredible effort in winning the Max Hempt Memorial pace at Pocono in June in a world-record time of 1:47:3.
The #3 horse on the list is Father Patrick, who has made an impact everywhere he’s raced but has been absolutely spotless at Pocono. The 3-year-old trotting colt went four-for-four at Pocono as a 2-year-old, including a Breeders Crown title. He has won all four of his starts at MSPD this year as well, the highlight of those coming in the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial trot in June when he won in 1:50:2, the fastest ever trotting time for a 3-year-old on a 5/8-mile oval.
On that same night in June, #2 Sweet Lou, a 5-year-old stallion from the Ron Burke barn, was solidifying his amazing return to prominence in the sport. After struggling in the early part of the season, which included a ho-hum 3rd in an Open at Pocono in May, Sweet Lou found the stride that made him such a force early in his career. In the Ben Franklin at Pocono on that fateful June night, the stallion dominated a stellar field with the fastest pacing time ever on a 5/8-mile oval of 1:47.
The #1 horse on the list has been a revelation all year long and his one start at Pocono was one for the ages. Of course, I’m talking about the sublime Sebastian K, the eight-year-old trotting stallion trained and driven by Ake Svanstedt who has won eight of his nine 2014 races, usually in record-breaking fashion, despite never have raced in the U.S. prior to this year. In his lone start at Pocono in an Open trot on that same June 28 that saw so many incendiary performances, Sebastian K stole the show with a win in 1:49, the fastest mile trotted on any track of any size in the history of the sport.
As you can tell, many of the superstars of the sport have left indelible marks on the Pocono racing wars in 2014. There is still a lot of racing to go in the season before such things as yearend awards are decided. But when those honors are chosen, it’s likely that some of the most compelling evidence for those choices will come courtesy of action at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.
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 25, 2014 | Racing
The great card of racing this past Saturday at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, primarily populated by elimination races for this Saturday’s $2.2M Sun Stakes Saturday, flirted with the divisional world record table on more than one occasion without any new names being set down, but the card as a whole did produce one record – according to the USTA’s Trotting and Pacing Guide, it was the fastest card ever in harness history, with an average win time of 1:49.2 for the 16 races.
T&P Guide history notes two occasions when a race card’s average win time was 1:49.3 – on Saturday, July 16, 2005 at The Meadowlands, a 13-race card (p. 297, 2013 T&P Guide), and 52 weeks ago to the day at the same track (Saturday, June 22, 2013), when the Sun Stakes Saturday elim card produced the same 1:49.3 average over 14 races (p. 288, 2014 T&P Guide).
This past Saturday’s 1:49.2 average included two trotting miles – a 1:52.2 by Nuncio and a 1:52.4 by Father Patrick in the two Earl Beal Trot elims. In all, of the 16 races, 11 miles went 1:50 or better; 8 went 1:49 or better; and 3 went in 1:48 or better – and those three came consecutively: Domethatagain upsetting his Ben Franklin Pace elim in 1:48, McWicked taking the fastest of the Max C. Hempt Pace elims in the same time, and then Sweet Lou taking the other Franklin elim in 1:47.4.
This Saturday’s Sun Stakes Saturday card will include the finals of the Franklin (FFAP), Hempt (3PC), and Beal (3TC), all worth $500,000, plus the $300,000 James Lynch Final (3PF), the $100,000 Sun Invitational trot (which, according to some reports, may actually help the 1:50 count, if you can believe that) and the $100,000 USTA Invitational pace, plus consolation races for the four major races as they fill, plus a strong undercard (this past Saturday’s non-elim races averaged 1:49.3 themselves).
Post time for Saturday’s Sun Stakes Saturday card at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs is set for 6:30 p.m. If you can’t make it to the races, wager via www.ibetmohegan.com; or stop by any of the 3 OTW locations; East Stroudsburg; Lehigh Valley, or Carbondale.
Jun 25, 2014 | Racing
June 21-27, 2014
The Weekly Awards will be taking a two-week hiatus so we can focus on all the excitement of the upcoming Sun Stakes Saturday. This past Saturday Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs hosted the eliminations for four huge stakes races: The James M. Lynch Memorlal (3-year-old pacing fillies), The Max C. Hempt Memorial (3-year-old open pacers), The Earl Beal Jr. Memorial (3-year-old open trotters), and The Ben Franklin (Open pacers).
While some might scoff at the results of the eliminations as being inconclusive, the fact is that it’s really impossible for horses in fields this good to take it easy and expect to make it through to the finals. And any night when a significant percentage of the world’s best horses and horsemen are in attendance deserves our full attention, even if the really huge purses won’t be up on the line until June 28.
So here’s a look at some of the important events from the eliminations:
JAMES M. LYNCH MEMORIAL
This one looks like the most wide-open of the four stakes fields, as just one (Fancy Desire) of the three favorites in the eliminations won, and one (Act Now) didn’t even make the final. Uffizi Hanover, who probably had the best reputation of any of the sophomore fillies coming into the night, started slowly but fought hard to rally for second behind Cinamony just so she could make the final.
That all could mean that Fancy Desire is the one to watch for the final. Trained by Kevin Carr, this filly loves the Pocono surface, winning her last three times at the track. She scored the most decisive elimination victory, pacing away in 1:49 with George Napolitano Jr. in the bike.
MAX C. HEMPT MEMORIAL
The Ron Burke barn will be well-represented in the Hempt final. Two of the three elimination winners came courtesy of Burke: At Press Time, an 8-1 shot who rallied from a significant deficit in the pocket to win in 1:48:2, and All Bets Off, who avenged his only loss of the season, which came at Pocono in May, by winning his split in 1:48:3. Matt Kakaley drove both winners.
Still, it was Casie Coleman’s trainee McWicked who stamped himself as the favorite. Despite an arduous journey to the lead in his split and scorching fractions, he still managed to pace away and hide late with David Miller driving for a win in 1:48.
EARL BEAL JR. MEMORIAL
I’ve never seen a star horse who seems to expound as little effort as Father Patrick. After winning his elimination without batting an eye in 1:52:4, his record now stands at four-for-four this year with 14 wins in 15 lifetime races. And still there is the nagging feeling that we haven’t seen his best yet, which is a scary thought for the rest of the division.
Maybe the one to beat him this year will be the only one who has ever beaten him. That’s Nuncio, who now is his stablemate in the Jimmy Takter barn. Nuncio stayed perfect by winning his elimination in 1:52:2, two-fifths faster than Father Patrick.
BEN FRANKLIN FREE-FOR-ALL
When he was last at Pocono at the start of May, Sweet Lou went off at 15-1 in an Invitational pace and finished third. Since then, he’s been unbeatable, winning four straight, including a command performance in his Franklin elimination in his return to MSPD. His winning time of 1:47:4 with Ron Pierce in the bike was the fastest of the night.
The other Franklin elimination was billed as the second ever showdown between Captaintreacherous, last year’s champion of everything as a 3-year-old, and Foiled Again, the veteran superstar and earner of over $6 million in his career. Nobody told Domethatagain, driven by Simon Allard for his brother trainer Rene Allard, about the plotline though, and he upset the apple cart with a pocket trip at 29-1.
As you can tell, there are ton of intriguing storylines for the finals. They’ll settle it on the track Saturday night, and it should be something special.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
