George Napolitano Jr. chalks up second month of 100 wins

Aug 31, 2015 | 50th anniversary of racing, Racing

How do you follow-up on a month when you win 100 races?
Well, if you’re George Napolitano Jr., you go out the next month and win 105.
Having won 100 races in the month of July while racing exclusively at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono and Harrah’s Philadelphia, the leading driver at both tracks went out and even topped his previous month by winning 105 races in August, capped by seven winners on the month’s “closing day” (both tracks are closed Monday.)
The actual “consecutive double century” milestone came at Harrah’s on Sunday afternoon when “George Nap” won the sixth race with Reggiano. Appropriately, the winner came from the barn of Gil Garcia-Herrera, Philly’s leading trainer and a regular customer for Napolitano’s services. (#99, Lispatty, also came from under Gil’s shedrow.)
The Reggiano victory was the middle of three on the afternoon for George; he then went to Pocono and added four more, including another for Garcia-Herrera. For the month, Napolitano won 50 times at Chester and 55 at Pocono.
Napolitano, 49, didn’t start driving until the relatively-advanced age of 26, but he has certainly made up for lost time, with 7167 career victories. His victory with the sophomore trotting filly Sistas, against males and older horses, on Saturday assured him of his sixth straight year with 500 or more wins, starting in 2010 when he won the North American title with 748 visits to Victory Lane.
Napolitano has a huge lead in the current Pocono stands, and should he remain atop the Pocono pack until season’s end, he will earn his ninth dashwinning title at the northeast Pennsylvania mountain oval — breaking his current share of the record of eight titles that he co-holds with Bill Lambertus.
George’s brother Anthony is the third-leading driver at Pocono, and fans frequently see a “Nap-Nap” photo finish. In fact, on Sunday evening George won the fourth race with True Hero by a nose over Anthony and Scootchie; Anthony “returned the favor” in race 10 by teaming with Magic Tricks to hang a head loss on George and the horse Vengeance.

YS Lotus brilliant in Weiss Final

Apr 21, 2015 | Racing

To modify the old adage, call him whatever you want, as long as you call him to the winners circle.
YS Lotus, without a space between the first two letters of his name but whom The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono broadcaster George Anthony insists should be called as if there were a space – after all, his owner is Yves Sarrazin – was brilliant Saturday night, April 19th,  in taking the $30,000 Bobby Weiss Series Championship for male pacers at the mountain oval in 1:49.3.
The altered son of If I Can Dream had first acquired a reputation for his ironsidedness, racing six times in 18 days between the Weiss and the Sagamore Hill Series at Yonkers. Before last week’s final Weiss prelim he had had a full week off, and he took a new mark of 1:50.2; with another 7-day rest, he lowered that mark by 4/5 of a second Satuday.
Victory At Last and Shadow Margeaux engaged in a bitter duel for the front end in a 26 opener, with YS Lotus five lengths off them early in third, but driver Simon Allard had the winner rolling in front of the stands, hitting the half in 54. Favored Major Uptrend, impressive winner of his only two Weiss starts, came first-up down the backstretch, but “YS” and Allard kept distance between them past the 1:21.1 ¾s and all the way to the finish, winning by 2¼ lengths. Trainer Rene Allard sent out not only the winner but also Vance Bayama (driver Mike Simons), who claimed third after a troubled trip.
In the $25,000 winners-over pacing feature, Ideal Matters was a “pocket rocket,” winning by a nose in 1:50 for driver George Napolitano Jr. and owner/trainer Gil Garcia-Herrera. Favored Sparky Mark just missed with his late rally, while pacesetter Mustang Art held well for third, beaten a length, after cutting fractions of 26.3, 53.4, and 1:22.