Apr 20, 2013 | Racing
April 13-19, 2013
The first few weeks at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs have featured some exciting young horses competing in the Bobby Weiss Series. The preliminary legs are just about over, and next week in this space we’ll be taking a look at who came out triumphant in the big-money finals. In the meantime, another outstanding week of racing has produced some excellent candidates for the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: GO BOTH WAYS
Last Saturday night’s racing was typically sharp at Pocono, with race after race featuring fast times by the winners. The fastest of all those winning times came from Go Both Ways, who put up a mile of 1:50:1. Not only was that the fastest of the night and the best in the 9-year-old gelding’s excellent career, but it was also the fastest posted at Pocono all week long.
The interesting thing about the mile by Go Both Ways is that it came in a $20,000 claiming event. While that is a solid grouping with many excellent competitors, there are higher claiming classes at Pocono, not to mention the condition races which are stocked with horses that go blistering times each and every week.
But nobody told Go Both Ways, who hails from the barn of Michael Hall, that he was supposed to be on a middling level. With Jim Morrill Jr. in the bike, he took the early lead, set scorching fractions, and paced away and hid from the field. Considering that the Dover shipper came in winless, it’s safe to say that he loved the Pocono oval and, with a time like that, he can hang with any class of pacers.
Honorable mention on the pacing side goes to: Star Keeper (Jim Morrill Jr., Doug Berkeley), a mare who won her third straight claiming handicap on Wednesday night in 1:52:4; Naughtytiltheend (Marcus Miller, Erv Miller), who moved up in class to score her second straight condition win on Wednesday night in 1:52; and Passion Starlet (George Napolitano Jr., Peter Pellegrino), who won her second straight $5,000 claimer at Pocono on Wednesday night in a career-best 1:54:2 and now has five victories in her last six races.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: MODERN FAMILY
You’ll often hear handicappers using the term “needs a start.” What they mean is that the horse needs one race to get itself acclimated to racing before it can be expected to perform at a top level. This term is generally used to describe a horse coming off a layoff, but it can also refer to a horse who is new to its surroundings.
Modern Family was a powerhouse early in the season, picking up wins at Dover, Harrah’s, and the Meadowlands. In his first start at Pocono on April 6, he rallied late but came up short by two lengths in a Preferred Handicap trot behind Tall Cotton. On Saturday night in the same class, trainer/driver Daryl Bier had a chance for revenge in the same class against Tall Cotton and a stellar field.
Bier had to be patient as Modern Family got shuffled back on the inside as the lead changed hands a few times. The 4-year-old stallion managed to slip to the outside in the stretch and he staged a furious rally to get up to win by a nose in 1:52:2. Not only was it his career-best, it was also the fastest trotting time at Pocono this season. He may have needed a start at Pocono, but with his confidence building after this great win, he just might not stop.
Other top trotters this week include: Permanent Joy (Brandon Simpson, Robert Krivelin), who used a thrilling stretch move to come from behind for a win in Tuesday night’s featured trot in 1:55:3, a new career mark; Bloomfieldcantifly (Jim Morrill Jr., Bill Mullin), who continued her excellent early part of the meet with a condition win on Tuesday in a career-best 1:55:1; and Definitely Mamie (Jim Morrill Jr., Brewer Adams), who overcame the far outside post for a gutsy condition win in the Wednesday night feature in 1:53:2, which matched the mare’s career-best time.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: MIDAS BLUE CHIP
In a claiming handicap pace on Saturday night, Midas Blue Chip got away at 36-1, and driver Tyler Buter rallied the gelding four-wide in the stretch for the win and a $74.60 payout on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: DARYL BIER
Bier had just two drives on Saturday night, but Modern Family won in the week’s fastest trotting time, and St Lads Zoom Zoom scored in the second-fastest pacing time. Bier trains both horses as well.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: MICHAEL HALL
It’s been an excellent start to the season for Hall, a relative newcomer to Pocono. This week he picked up three wins including a training double on Sunday 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].
Apr 10, 2013 | Racing
April 9, 2013
Shebestingin now has five wins in five starts in her career after a victory in a division of the Bobby Weiss Series for 3-year-old pacing fillies on Tuesday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The race carried a purse of $15,000.
Shebestingin (Bettor’s Delight-Armbro Tussle), won her split in 1:53:4 by controlling matters on the front end. Jim Morrill Jr. did the driving for trainer Joe Holloway. American In Paris finished a length back in second while Ideal Ginny picked up the show.
In the night’s other Weiss division, Live Entertainment (Real Artist-West Side Glory) made her first start of the year a winning one in 1:52:3. Jimmy Takter trains the filly and son Jimmy Jr. did the driving. Coffee Addict finished second in that split and Gramercy Hanover got the show.
Apr 6, 2013 | Racing
March 30-April 5, 2013
There were only three nights of racing this past week at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, since there was no live card on Easter Sunday. Luckily, those three nights were jam-packed with stellar performances, giving us no shortage of candidates for the Weekly Awards. Let’s take a look at the best of the best in the week that was at MSPD.
PACER OF THE WEEK: RIVER SHARK
With the Breeders Crown scheduled at Pocono, we anticipated that we’d be seeing some of the finest pacers and trotters in the country getting the lay of the land at the track throughout the season. Apparently, the talent parade has already begun, as 7-year-old pacer River Shark proved with his outstanding effort on Saturday night.
The gelding from the Mark Ford barn came into Saturday night’s $18,000 condition pace with 33 wins under his belt and over $1 million in his bank account. Coming off tough races at the Meadowlands and Yonkers, River Shark was made the odds-on favorite with George Napolitano Jr. in the bike, but the other competitors in the tough field weren’t about to cede an easy win to him. Several horses took shots at him on the front end only to get rebuffed with extreme prejudice.
He faced his toughest challenge in the stretch, as pocket horse Take It Back Terry shot up the passing lane after an excellent trip to that point. River Shark dug deep for one more burst of speed and came up a winner in 1:51. Expect to see more of that from this excellent pacer, and expect to see a lot more star performances at Pocono throughout the season.
Other top pacers this week include: Move On (Jim Morrill Jr., Dennis Walsh), who doubled his claiming price on Saturday night to score his second consecutive win, this time beating the $10,000 claimers in a career-best 1:52:1; Shebestingin (Jim Morrill Jr., Joe Holloway), whose victory in 1:52:3 in the Bobby Weiss Series for 3-year-old fillies on Tuesday kept her unbeaten after four career starts; and Happy Hour Honey (Jim Morrill Jr., Kent Sherman), a mare who scored her second straight victory over the $10,000 claimers on Wednesday night in 1:54:1.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: IMPERIAL COUNT
There are times in the sport of harness racing when a horse is just so bound and determined to come up with the win that no manner of obstacle can derail it from that victory. When you add in excellent talent, you’ve got a winning combination, one that Imperial Count possessed in the week’s featured preferred trot, which carried a purse of $25,000, on Saturday night.
Imperial Count, a five-year-old stallion from the barn of Nifty Norman, got away a bit slow in the race, which was just his second start of the season. Driver Tyler Buter set him in motion on the back stretch behind two other horses, but problems arose when the horse that was first in line on the outside went off-stride.
Buter had no other choice but to send Imperial Count out wide around the final turn to avoid the breaking horse, but still the gelding found enough momentum to track down pacesetting Photo King by a half-length for the win in 1:54:2. Like we said, combine effort with talent and it’s often too tough to stop.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Pembroke Heat Wave (George Napolitano Jr., Mark Ford), who shipped in from Harrah’s for a victory in a condition trot on Tuesday night in 1:55:4; Berkshire (Jim Morrill Jr., Antonella Galie), who scored his first win of the season on Tuesday over a rugged condition group in a career-best 1:55:3; and Maximum Credit (George Napolitano Jr., Paul Kennedy), who won his third straight race overall and his second in a row in the Bobby Weiss Series for 3-year-old trotting colts and geldings, scoring on Wednesday night in 1:58:1.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: ONE LINE GUY
This first-time starter was facing a field of more experienced trotters in his debut on Tuesday night, but he scored with Andrew McCarthy at 18-1 for a $38 payoff on a $2 bet.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: JIM MORRILL JR.
Morrill is off to a blistering start in the early part of the Pocono meet, and the highlight came on Wednesday night when he ripped off five consecutive wins on the card.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: MARK FORD
Ford is one of the early leaders in the trainers’ standings, and he had another solid week, including a training double on Tuesday night with wins in consecutive races on the program.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]
Mar 29, 2013 | Racing
Opening week at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs is officially in the books, and it was a great four nights of racing. Although Mother Nature hasn’t yet cooperated with better racing temperatures, at least there were fast tracks all week long. That allowed for some sizzling racing regardless of the weather. With that in mind, let’s not waste any more time. We’re handing out 2013’s first edition of the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: SILENT SWING
We’ve got a bunch of official records detailing the fastest times in the history of Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs as separated by age and gender; they can be found in our racing program. We don’t keep official records on the best performances on Opening Night, but I’ve been watching the live races now for more than fifteen years, and I can guarantee that no one has ever been better on the first night of the season than Silent Swing was on Saturday night.
The 11-year-old gelding from the barn of Mark Ford had some help in his standout performance from Drumfire A, who gunned to the early lead and set blistering fractions. That allowed Slient Swing to stay tucked in the pocket and have energy left for the stretch drive.
At that point, driver George Napolitano Jr. gunned Silent Swing right past the defenseless Drumfire A and won going away in 1:49:4, an incredible time considering the frigid temperatures. I have a feeling that scorching mile is going to be a harbinger of the faast times to come in the upcoming season at Pocono.
Honorable mention on the pacing side goes to: Jerseylicious (Corey Callahan, Wayne Givens), whose romping victory in the first leg of the Bobby Weiss Series for 3-year-old pacing fillies on Tuesday night followed four consecutive wins at Dover to start the season; Gallant Major (Mike Simons, Gail Wrubel), who followed up a win ay Yonkers on Saturday night with a victory over the $25,000 claimers in 1:54:2; and Betterthanlynx (George Napolitano Jr., Peter Pellegrino), who now has three straight wins after shipping in from Monticello and knocking off a field of claiming handicap pacers on Sunday night in 1:52:4.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: PHOTO KING
The featured condition trot of the week came on Saturday night and carried a purse of $21,000. There were some rugged trotters in that group, with all eight horses in the field having earned well over six figures in their careers.
Photo King, a six-year-old gelding from the Bill Mullin barn, got seasoning early this year facing tough trotters at The Meadowlands. He entered Saturday night’s race as the 5-2 second choice behind 3-2 favorite Spice it Up Lindy and had a tough #7 post position. Come race time though, he was up to all challenges.
The gelding, with Jim Morrill Jr. in the bike, fought hard through a contested stretch drive and came up with a gutsy victory in 1:55, matching the fastest trotting time of the week at Pocono. Now with three wins in eight starts this season, Photo King seems poised for a huge campaign at MSPD.
Other top trotters this week include: Sand Wyndham (Joe Pavia Jr., Rene Allard), who followed up a win at Saratoga with a condition win on Sunday night in 1:55:2; Keepin The Chips (Matt Kakaley, Brooke Vermett), a gelding whose win at Pocono on Sunday night in 1:56 came on the heels of win at Chester in his last start; and As Ya’ll Like It (Tyler Buter, Chris Oakes), who opened up racing on Wednesday night with a powerful winning performance in a claiming handicap in a career-best 1:55.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: SAND SUMMERFIELD
A pocket trip helped this pacer driven by Marcus Miller to the upset of an excellent condition pacing field on Saturday night at 24-1, paying out $50 for a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: TYLER BUTER
Not only did Tyler get off to a sizzling start to the 2013 meet at Pocono with a big first week, he also scored his milestone 2,000th lifetime driving win on Wednesday night aboard Zooming.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: AMBER BUTER
The first week was all about the Buters at Pocono. While Tyler has been a driving dynamo, Amber finds herself near the top of the trainers’ standings in the early going.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Mar 29, 2013 | Racing
March 27, 2013
Daggett, Jurgen Hanover, and Maximum Credit scored wins in the first leg of the Bobby Weiss Series for 3-year-old colts and geldings on the trot on Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The races each carried a purse of $15,000.
Daggett (Chocolatier-Elena Victory), with Marcus Miller in the bike for John Butenschoen, parlayed a pocket trip into a victory in the first split, scoring in 1:58:2. In the second division, Jurgen Hanover (Credit Winner-Yassi Hanover) romped to win in 1:56:1, the fastest of the times in the first leg of the series. David Miller did the driving for trainer Donna Marshall. The final split was captured by Maximum Credit (Credit Winner-Marjorie Hall), as George Napolitano Jr. drove him to a frontrunning win for trainer Paul Kennedy in 1:58:2.
