May 4, 2015 | Racing
The chalk was perfect Sunday night, May 3, at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono in three divisions of a $96,000 Pennsylvania All-Stars event for three-year-old trotting fillies.
First up was Focus On Me, a daughter of SJ’s Caviar who is now perfect in two seasonal starts after rallying from the pocket into a 28.1 last quarter to catch pacesetting Fly Angel Fly by a neck while taking a race mark of 1:56.4. Dan Rawlings handled the driving for trainer Rick Beinhauer, of Sierra Kosmos fame (he is the first and antepenultimate listing, among others, in the 347 “prior owners” of the horse listed by the USTA), and Rick and his wife Regina both own and bred the promising filly.
Livininthefastlane, 2-3 in the two weeks of the Breeders Crown last year, surely lived up to her name in her seasonal debut, making an early move to the lead and storming home in 27.3 to post a 1:54 clocking that missed her 2YO record by a tick. The daughter of Donato Hanover races for Team Orange Crush, trainer Julie Miller and driver/husband Andy, and the well-known ownership triumvirate of Marvin Katz, Al Libfeld, and Sam Goldband.
The “Crushers” were right back in Pocono’s Victory Lane with another daughter of Donato Hanover, as Sky Hanover, now undefeated in four seasonal outings, had to survive the first-over grind in withstanding the horse on her back, Big Barb, by a half-length in 1:56.1. Sky Hanover is owned by the Andy Miller Stable Inc., Little E LLC, Banyan Farms and Westminster Road LLC.
Apr 8, 2015 | Racing
Four of the first five winners at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Tuesday night, April 7th, paid the 5 cents to a dollar legal minimum profit in winning, including three visitors to Victory Lane during $15,000 third round series action of the Bobby Weiss Series – with the quartet tallying by a combined 21 lengths.
The trotting males were up first, and two Meadowlands invader took all the money, both pari-mutuel and purse. First up was the Crazed gelding JL Cruze, who has already bankrolled $133,000+ this year winning three series at the Jersey oval and racking up an effortless 12¼-length score in his mountain debut for trainer Eric Ell and driver John Campbell. The winner tripped the timer in 1:54.1 over a sloppy surface after making every pole a winning one for owners Ken Wood, William Dittmar Jr., and Stephen Iaquinta.
Opulent Yankee, who has caused the “2” in JL Cruze’s 11-9-2-0 season’s record, was next up, and he was 3½ lengths to the good at the end of his 1:54.2 triumph. Team Orange Crush, driver Andy and trainer Julie Miller, guide the fortunes of the Muscles Yankee gelding for Little E LLC, Arthur Geiger, Jason Settlemoir, and David Stolz.
In the first of two pacing mare divisions, the Burke / Weaver Bruscemi entry took all the money and finished 1-2, as Donttellruss got her first Weiss win in two starts, turning back Allthatjazz De Vie, who was successful in her initial series outing, in 1:53.3. Burke Racing and Weaver Bruscemi share ownership of the Andrew McCarthy-driven winning daughter of Panspacificflight with Lawrence Karr and Frank Baldachino.
In the second distaff sidewheelers cut, a Burke entry was also favored, but they had to settle for second and third behind the only two-time Weiss winner in this section, the Somewheresomebeach mare The Beach NextDoor, taking a new mark of 1:53 under the guidance of Jim Morrill Jr. The winner’s dam is named On The Choo Choo, and those are the tactics Morrill successfully employed for trainer Brewer Adams and the partnership of Adams Racing LLC and Brian Clark.
The fourth 1-20* horse, in the card’s opener, was the well-regarded altered son of The Panderosa, Heavenly Knox, who made short work of his assignment in a personal best of 1:51.3. Triumphant in the Walter Russell Series Final at The Meadows in his last start, Heavenly Knox is now 8 for 9 lifetime, with driver David Miller and trainer Mark Ford entrusted with the care of the winner by new owners George and Rose Bonomo.
The four “sureshots” attracted plenty of money “underneath” as well, as $60,000 to show among all but JL Cruze; his race had no show betting, so over $20,000 went into the place pool on him.
(But all is not chalk in the Pocono pari-mutuels: Hall of Famer John Campbell paid $25.60 to win in a race on the card, and he finished third, beaten a length, at 75-1 in another.)
Jun 25, 2014 | Racing
June 14-20, 2014
We are in the thick of the most exciting time of the season at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. Over the next few weekends we’ll be seeing some of the finest standardbreds in the world competing for some huge stakes. We’ve also been blessed with Sire Stakes and Stallion Series races just about every night of late. Through all of that, our overnight races continue to produce outstanding performances. It’s not easy to choose the very best out of such a wealth of talent, but that’s what we’ll try to do as we hand out the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: FATEFUL CHOICE
When a horse is a part of a barn as successful as that of trainer Chris Oakes and it isn’t winning with regularity, it can almost seem like an underachiever. In the case of 4-year-old gelding Fateful Choice, it may just have been a case early this year of running up against top competition while not quite on his best game. The result was just a single win in ten races to start the 2014 season.
A drop down in class on June 3 to the non-winners of $7,000 in the last five starts did the trick though, as Fateful Choice found his confidence and his stride in a big way, blowing the field away by 4 ¼ lengths in 1:49:2, a new career-best. Bouyed by the victory, he moved up to take on a tougher group of non-winners of $12,500 in the last five starts on Saturday night.
Driver Anthony Napolitano stayed aggressive with Fateful Choice, sending him to the front end, then rated him very well to the half. At that point, the gelding was a powerhouse and scorched the dirt on his way to his second sub-1:50 victory, this one coming in 1:49:4. All of a sudden, Fateful Choice has the look of so many other of his stablemates. In other words, he looks awful tough to beat.
Other top pacers this week include: Bushwacker (George Napolitano Jr., Chris Ryder), who moved to two-for-two on the season with another impressive condition win on Sunday night, this one coming in 1:51; Colossal Cruiser (Simon Allard, Rene Allard), who took a huge step up in class Saturday night to the $20,000 claimers and still picked up his second straight victory, doing so in a career-best 1:50; and Bolt The Duer (Mark MacDonald, Peter Foley), who tuned up in anticipation of the Ben Franklin pace at Pocono by dominating a Preferred group on Saturday night in the week’s fastest time of 1:48:2.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: IL MAGO
This 5-year-old stallion from the Mark Harder barn has been exceptional since arriving at Pocono for a condition trot on June 4. That was just his second start following a layoff of two months, but there was no rust evident whatsoever as he took the lead on the front stretch and then gutted out a tough stretch drive to win by a neck in 1:53:3.
On Tuesday night, Il Mago was back at it against the non-winners of $12,500 in the last five starts once again, albeit this time in a slightly tougher post on the outer half of the field. Andrew McCarthy was still able to fire the stallion out of the gate and reach the front end before the quarter-pole. He was also able to slow the pace down with fractions almost identical to Il Mago’s previous win.
In the stretch, a couple horses drew to within striking distance, but McCarthy called on the afterburners and Il Mago responded. The result was a second straight victory with the same time of 1:53:3 from the previous week. That kind of consistent excellence is the stuff of long winning streaks, so watch out for this talented trotted in the weeks to come even if he moves up in class.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Not Afraid (Jim Morrill Jr., Jimmy Takter), who followed up a win at the Meadowlands with a Preferred win on Saturday night at Pocono in a new career mark of 1:51:4, which was also fastest trotting time of the week at MSPD; Bikini So Teeny (Charlie Norris trainer and driver, who won her second straight on Wednesday night, this one coming in Stallion Series company in a career-best 1:55; and Designed To Be (Brian Sears, Julie Miller), whose Sire Stakes win on Wednesday night matched a world record for 3-year-old trotting fillies on a 5/8-mile oval with a winning time of 1:51:3.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: ROYAL ENGAGEMENT
Despite being laid off since a May 2nd victory in California, this mare with Andrew McCarthy in the bike rallied for a claiming pacing win on Sunday night at 23-1 for a $48.40 payout on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: ANTHHON NAPOLITANO
A-Nap looks poised for his best season ever at Pocono, especially after a week in which he had mutilple wins in three of the four racing nights.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: JULIE MILLER
Miller had a wonderful night at the Sire Stakes on Wednesday, sweeping both divisions of the 3-year-old trotting fillies with her trainees Take The Money and Designed To Be.
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
June 18, 2014
Designed To Be exorcised some demons in a big way by winning a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes race at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs on Tuesday night, matching a world record in the process. The race was one of two $98,100 Sire Stakes divisions held at Pocono for three-year-old trotting fillies.
The last time she was at Pocono, Designed To Be (Donato Hanover-Sheer Soul), trained by Julie Miller, broke stride as the heavy favorite in a Breeders Crown elimination race in October. This time around, in just her second start of the year following a Sire Stakes win at Chester in early May, the filly, an 8-5 second choice, had to face off with defending division champ Shake It Cerry. Driver Brian Sears made the lead with Designed To Be on the front stretch and rebuffed the challenge of Shake It Cerry on the final turn. In the stretch, she trotted away from closing Lifetime Pursuit to win by 2 ¾ lengths with Shake It Cerry fading to 3rd. The winning time of 1:51:3 matched the world record for three-year-old trotting fillies on a 5/8-mile track, previously set by Check Me Out at Pocono in 2012.
Trainer Julie Miller was able to claim a sweep of Sire Stakes action on the night, as her filly Take The Money (Donato Hanover-Repititions) took advantage of some racing luck to win her division in 1:52:4. In that split, Cooler Schooner was the heavy favorite and was in command heading into the final turn, but she spun way out wide and lost too much ground to hit the board. Take The Money, the 7-5 second choice with Dave Palone in the bike, inherited the lead from the pocket and toughed it out in the stretch to win by a length over Cantabs Fortune in 1:52:4. Tweet Me picked up the show.
May 1, 2014 | Racing
April 19-25, 2014
The Weekly Awards take a hiatus for this week as we stop to focus on the finals of the Bobby Weiss late closer series, which took place the past three racing nights. For those who have been paying attention to Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in the first month of the season, you’ve likely noticed the preliminary Weiss races sprinkled through each night’s card, a chance for younger horses to go head-to-head for solid purses.
The big attraction of the preliminary legs was the opportunity for the combatants to earn enough points to reach the finals, each of which carried a purse of $30,000. That’s a pretty penny for horses early in the season, so it makes sense that some top-notch talent arrived at Pocono at the start of the season for the series named after our longtime track superintendent.
Over the past four weeks, we’ve had the chance to see some budding stars establish themselves in the preliminaries. But who would step up and capture the big-money finals? Read on and find out.
THREE AND FOUR-YEAR-OLD PACING COLTS, STALLIONS, AND GELDINGS
The first of the four finals, held on Saturday night in excellent racing conditions, featured the most wide-open division. The wins in the preliminaries were divided pretty evenly. Only Getitoffyourchest managed three preliminary wins, and he finished seventh in his final leg.
One horse in the final group of nine seemed to be peaking, but he was saddled with a brutal #9 post. Yet A Stitch in Time, driven by George Napolitano Jr. for the Lou Pena barn, didn’t seem to mind. The 4-year-old gelding hustled to the front end, set unconscious fractions, and still was burning it up in the lane. A Stitch In Time ended up comfortably in front by 1 ¾ lengths and set a career-best time of 1:48:3, proving that when a great horse in on his game, even an outside post can’t deter him.
THREE AND FOUR-YEAR-OLD PACING FILLIES AND MARES
Envious Hanover came into the final with three wins in four preliminary legs. With the inside post, she was made the 3-2 favorite. But Prima Dragon, who had won her previous two starts, including a victory in 1:52:1 that represented the fastest winning time achieved in this group in the preliminaries, left right alongside of Envious Hanover, setting up an inevitable showdown.
The difference was in the trip. While Envious Hanover did the work on the lead and had to fight off outside pressure, Prima Dragon sat the pocket trip to save energy. In the stretch, she uncorked her best move in the passing lane to beat the favorite by a 1 ¼ lengths in 1:52:1. Brett Miller did the driving for trainer Michael Dowdall, as Prima Dragon won the tightest of the four Finals.
THREE AND FOUR-YEAR-OLD TROTTING COLTS, STALLIONS, AND GELDINGS
Each time Ray Hall lined up for a Weiss race, he was made an odds-on favorite. And each time, he delivered on that promise with Tim Tetrick in the bike. Still, this final was far from a foregone conclusion, or at least it seemed so after Time To Quit battled Ray Hall to the end in the last preliminary, losing by only a neck. The final on Tuesday had the potential to be a donnybrook.
Instead, Ray Hall was completely dominant. The four-year-old gelding from the Mark Harder barn had the lead by the first turn and controlled matters from that point, once again with Tetrick doing the driving. In the stretch, he kicked away from his listing foes to win by 2 ¾ lengths, adding the exclamation point with a career-best mile of 1:53:2. That made him the only horse to complete a sweep of all four legs and the final.
THREE AND FOUR-YEAR-OLD TROTTING FILLIES AND MARES
In many ways, this race was over once the entries were set. In the preliminaries, Perfect Alliance and Take The Money, a pair of standout mares from the Julie Miller barn, went a combined six-for-six, winning all of those races with ease. Once it was determined that Take The Money would sit this one out, Perfect Alliance immediately became the prohibitive favorite.
Of course, anything can happen in a harness race, but this final always had the feel of a foregone conclusion. Sure enough, with Yannick Gingras doing the driving, Perfect Alliance handled the field without any problems. Her win in 1:53:3 by 1 ¼ lengths gave her nine consecutive victories to start the season, including five at The Meadowlands and four at Pocono. Living up to her name, she made for the perfect way to conclude the Bobby Weiss series for 2014.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
