The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono 2018 Season Review

“The calendar fades almost all barricades to a pale compromise,” Elvis Costello once sang. I’m not sure if he had the harness racing season in mind when he penned that line, but it’s applicable here. After all, the calendar is slowly closing the door on our 2018 campaign at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, which will come to its completion on Saturday night, November 17.

I know I say this every year, but it is hard to believe that we are at the finish of another meet at Pocono. At the start of the season, when it’s March and the weather is just starting to improve, it can seem like the season is going to go on until infinity. Then you look up, there’s ice on the windshield again, and it’s time to shut her down.

Still, it’s impossible to feel too melancholy about the racing season in the rear view at Pocono. After all, it was one for the books, highlighted by the incredible stakes races throughout the year, yet foundationed (yeah, Dylan used that word, so I can too) by the steady excellence of the overnight races. Each and every racing night had at least one memorable, I’ve-never-seen-that-before kind of moment.

For example, I’m thinking about how an overnight horse named Hurricane Beach stunned us all one night with fractions faster than any of the champions who have raced on the Pocono oval have ever been able to manage. Or the occasional 99-1 and beyond shot that would come out of nowhere to score a win and have us scrambling to do the math.

That’s not to say there weren’t performers who were brilliant just about every time they came out on the Pocono track. For instance:

PACER OF THE YEAR: DORSODURO HANOVER

I remember, when this horse came up just short in the Max Hempt Memorial pace due to a speed duel that sapped his closing kick, thinking that he was due for better things. Boy, was he ever. It seemed like he was winning a stakes race every other week at Pocono in 2018. The two big highlights for the Ron Burke trainee driven by Matt Kakaley: A convincing win in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championships for three-year-old colts and then a command performance in the Breeders Crown.

TROTTER OF THE YEAR: HOMICIDE HUNTER

It seems like every year that this Chris Oakes’ trainee comes back, he gets a little better. And he was spectacular to begin with. In a year that saw him break a record that many thought was unbreakable (Sebastian K’s fastest trotting time ever), Old Double H made Pocono his personal stomping grounds. He dominated in the Great Northeastern Open Series throughout the summer, winning the final in a romp. That was just the appetizer for his rallying win in the Breeders Crown, with, fittingly, George Napolitano Jr. in the bike.

CLAIMER OF THE YEAR: IDEAL KISS

There were plenty of horses this year who ran off big winning streaks in the claiming ranks at Pocono, pacers and trotters alike. I chose Ideal Kiss because he managed his success, for the most part, at the absolute top rungs of the claiming ladder. Not to mention the fact that he often succeeded from outside post positions in claiming handicaps and while switching barns practically every week. His consistency in the face of all this was simply stunning.

MARE OF THE YEAR: ECLIPSE ME

Again, a lot of great candidates here, as the distaff divisions were crowded with standout performers. Yet this Rene Allard trainee gets the call for her ability to rise to the occasion time and again against extremely difficult competition. She usually managed her victories coming from off the pace, which certainly adds to the degree of difficulty. It seems like each and every year a Simon Allard/Rene Allard horse wins one of these things, so it’s no surprise to see it happen in 2018.

The driving and training categories are still technically in the wind as we head through the closing nights, but for the most part, it’s in the bag for George Napolitano Jr. (yet again) in terms of driving wins and UDRS and Rene Allard (also yet again in training wins.) Special congratulations go to Hunter Oakes, who appears on his way to a UDRS training title in his first full season as a conditioner. In a community of trainers and drivers as balanced and competitive as the one Pocono possesses, these performers certainly deserve special recognition for coming out on top.

And that should just about do it from here. As always, it has been a privilege to compile these articles for you each week and, of course, to call the races at Pocono. It is a gig that I cherish more with each passing year, and I am eternally grateful for my co-workers who do all the tough stuff so I can sit in my booth and let the action unfold in front of me.

Finally, one more time for 2018, I want to thank the Pocono faithful, the best fans in the sport of harness racing. I hope your off-season is a happy and healthy one, and I’m looking forward to seeing you all again in 2019.

That will do it for this year at Pocono, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].

 

The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Week in Review

 

October 6-12, 2018

The countdown is on to the Breeders’ Crown, now just a couple weeks away from taking place at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. Based on some of the incredible stakes performances being delivered recently at other tracks around the country, this has the making of one of the most memorable Breeders Crown editions in many years. We can’t wait, but we also don’t want to give short shrift to the excellent overnight action going on each and every racing night at Pocono. With that in mind, let’s hand out some Weekly Awards.

PACER OF THE WEEK: PEMBROKE WILDCAT

Throughout the summer and even into the early part of September, this six-year-old gelding competed against the toughest claimers on the grounds at Pocono. He was often a kind of best-of-the-rest competitor, but that started to change when worked out a pocket trip for a victory in the $30,000-$40,000 claiming handicaps on September 22 in 1:50, a new career-best. The following week, Pembroke Wildcat once again worked out the perfect trip and scored, this time in 1:51.4.

On Saturday night, he once again faced off with the $30,000-$40,000 claiming handicappers, leaving from post position #2 in a field of eight. Pembroke Wildcat was made a 6-5 second choice behind Ideal Kiss at 2-5, even though he had beaten Ideal Kiss in one of his previous two victories. Perhaps bettors were a bit skeptical about the fact that he had need a trip to win the previous two. When Pembroke Wildcat got away mid-pack while Ideal Kiss set the pace, it was time for him to prove that he had another trick up his sleeve.

Driver Anthony Napolitano sent Pembroke Wildcat, trained by Brittany Robertson, on a first-over journey on the back stretch to try and corral the leaders. Once he pulled up even, Pembroke Wildcat flew right on past the defenseless Ideal Kiss and kept right on rolling until he hit the line in front by two lengths in 1:50.1. There shouldn’t be any more lingering doubts about this gelding, because he certainly picked up that third straight victory the hard way.

Other top pacers this week include: Voracity (Eric Carlson, Ron Burke), who moved up in class on Saturday night but still managed his second consecutive condition win in sub-1:50 territory, pacing the mile in 1:49.4; Zero The Hero (George Napolitano Jr., Hunter Oakes), who tore it up on Saturday night for this third straight claiming win, this one coming in 1:49.4; and That Man Of Mine (George Napolitano Jr.,), whose win on Saturday night in a claiming handicap in 1:51.4 gave him five victories in a row, four of which have come at Pocono.

TROTTER OF THE WEEK: TWO AM

Sunday night’s featured condition trot with a purse of $21,500 was filled to the brim with trotters who were having excellent seasons. Two AM, a four-year-old gelding trained by Todd Buter, came into the race with four victories on the season, but none quite at the level he was dealing with on Sunday night. Still, he had won his previous race at Pocono on September 29 in 1:53.4, and was a star as a three-year-old, so the move up in class wasn’t completely out of the question.

With Tyler Buter in the bike, Two AM sat back early as the pace was set by Crazshana. Tyler Buter waited for some cover and then sent the gelding second-over once he found that cover on the back stretch in the form of Elysium Lindy. That horse carried Two AM as far as he could go before starting to tire. The same fate befell Crazshana, who started to feel it in the lane as well. That left Prairie Fortune, the 3-2 favorite who was sitting in the pocket, and Two AM, who was revving up out wide.

Two AM may have had the tougher journey, but it didn’t stop him from showing powerful closing kick. In fact, he out-trotted Prairie Fortune and came up a winner by three-parts of a length. His winning time of 1:52.4 was the fastest that anyone trotted at Pocono this past week. With his second straight victory, this time against the toughest trotters on the grounds, Two AM is looking very much like the big earner he was just a year ago.

Honorable mention on the trotting side this week goes to: Mighty Macko (George Napolitano Jr., Chris Oakes), a three-year-old filly who scored her second straight condition win on Sunday night, this one in 1:55.3; Silvermass Volo (Eric Carlson, Michael Holcman), who powered to a condition victory on Saturday night in 1:53.3; and Cant U Spell (George Napolitano Jr., Jody Riedel), who moved up in class on Tuesday night to captures his second straight condition trot and get it done in a career-best 1:54.2.

LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: RAISING KERCKHAERT

It was a memorable maiden victory for this trotter, as he picked up a condition won on Sunday night with Jim Taggart Jr. in the bike at 49-1, paying off $101.40 on a $2 win ticket.

DRIVER OF THE WEEK: JIM TAGGART JR.

Taggart was the guy you wanted this week if you liked long shots, as he brought home a 49-1 on Sunday night with Raising Kerckheart and then scored at 10-1 with Sneak On Bye on Monday.

TRAINER OF THE WEEK: SCOTT DI DOMENICO

Di Domenico always seem to bring in a high percentage of winners at Pocono, and he managed victories with both of his starters on Sunday night.

That will do it for this week at Pocono, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].