Sep 29, 2015 | 50th anniversary of racing, Racing
September 18-24, 2015
Lest anyone think that the racing action at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono has slowed up a bit as summer makes its transition into fall, this past week’s excitement should definitively put that theory to rest. Four nights of action produced times as quick as any we witnessed in the heart of summer. We even had a world record performance to really push this week over the edge. That performance, needless to say, kicks off our Weekly Awards.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: DAYLON MIRACLE
In the $30,000 Open Handicap trot on Saturday night, Wind Of The North was assigned the outside post in the nine-horse field, meaning that he conceivably should have been the one that stood a notch above the rest of the field. But it was the mare Daylon Miracle who went off as the even-money favorite from post position #7.
Maybe the betting faithful saw a horse on top of her game after a close 3rd in a $100,000 race at Pocono and a sharp condition win at Yonkers in her previous two starts. Or maybe they realized that her human companions, trainer Rene Allard and driver Simon Allard, were in the midst of a monster night. In any case, Daylon Miracle rewarded the bettor’s faith, taking the lead on the front stretch and trotting away to hide.
She kicked away from her pursuit to cross the line 7 ½ lengths in front of the best trotters on the grounds. The winning time of 1:50:3 revealed just why Daylon Miracle was so far out in front, as it broke the world record for aged trotting mares on a 5/8-mile oval. Only Sebastian K and Father Patrick, two all-time greats, have ever trotted faster at Pocono than what Daylon Miracle achieved on Saturday night.
Other top trotters this week include: Extracurricular (Simon Allard, Rene Allard) whose victory in Tuesday night’s featured condition trot was his second straight and came in a career-best 1:53; Racer X (George Napolitano Jr., Chris Oakes), who now has three straight wins, two of which were at Pocono, following a victory Friday night in a career best 1:53:3; and Cantabs Fortune (George Napolitano Jr., Kevin Carr), a mare who moved up in class on Tuesday night to score her second straight condition win, this one coming in 1:55.
PACER OF THE WEEK: BUGGER BRUISER
This four-year-old gelding from the barn of trainer of Carmen Auciello has spent his time in 2015 bouncing back and forth amidst Pennsylvania, New York and Canada. In his previous start before going toe-to-toe with a $13,000 condition group at Pocono on Saturday night, he overcame an outside post to win at Tioga by a neck in 1:52:1.
Although that winning time might have seemed modest next to some of the speedsters in Saturday night’s race, Bugger Bruiser also had a 1:49:1 win at Mohawk to his credit in 2015. He needed that speed early to find the pocket seat behind Mustang Art, a classy Pocono veteran who made the front end and tried to scare off the rest of the field by setting intimidating fractions.
Those fractions didn’t frighten Bugger Bruiser, who stayed close behind Mustang Art as the leader dealt with pressure on the outside. At the top of the stretch, driver Simon Allard tipped Bugger Bruiser to the outside and the gelding pounced, blowing by the pacesetter to win by two lengths in a sizzling 1:50. With two straight wins, this precocious pacer appears ready to step up and take on even tougher foes, no matter where he races next.
Honorable mention on the pacing side goes to: Dynamic Youth (Joe Bongiorno, Ron Burke), who battled to a win in Saturday night’s $30,000 Open Handicap pace in 1:49, the fastest pacing time of the week; Artistic Major (Eric Goodell, Steve Elliott), a 3-year-old colt who beat some tough older horses in a condition on Saturday night in a career-best 1:49:4; and Frost Damage Blues (Mike Simons, Tom Fanning), a three-year-old filly who, after winning five straight races in New York to start her career, handled a condition field at Pocono on Wednesday night in a career-best 1:51:1 to stay perfect.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: CULINARY DELIGHT
At 36-1, this filly wasn’t given much of a chance on Tuesday night, but she upset a condition trotting field with Marcus Miller in the bike to pay out $74.80 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: SIMON ALLARD
As if five wins on Friday night weren’t enough, he came right back to dominate the proceedings with eight wins on Saturday night, a personal best for him here at Pocono.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: RENE ALLARD
After notching four training wins on both Friday and Saturday night, the meet’s leading trainer now has twice as many wins in 2015 as his nearest competitor in the Pocono training standings.
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 16, 2015 | Racing
June 6-12, 2015
It was bound to happen. As impressive as the times on The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono’s track records page might be, each year several of those records fall by the wayside. It took nearly 2 ½ months for any horse to match or break one of those lofty standards this season, which was a bit surprising considering the caliber of horses we’ve seen so far this year. 2015’s first incursion into the records page came on Saturday night, and the horse that came up big leads us off in this edition of the Weekly Awards.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: FRAU BLUCHER
The crowd was still abuzz following the Triple Crown victory of American Pharaoh early Saturday evening when a pack of Open trotters hit the track to restart Pocono’s harness racing program, which had begun earlier in the afternoon. The 1-2 favorite was Daylon Miracle, a mare fresh off a Preferred win at the Meadows against other distaffers. Frau Blucher, the other mare in the field, got away as the 9-5 second choice, as she was stepping up in class after a condition win in the slop on May 30 in an unhurried 1:55.
Frau Blucher was a superstar as a 2 and 3-year-old for trainer Chris Oakes, earning over $900,000 in those two seasons. Her 4-year-old season included a world record for her age group when she won at Pocono in 1:51:2, but that was just one of two wins she managed all year in just nine races. Her five-year-old season included just one start prior to that May 30 win, and she went off-stride in that one.
But on Saturday night, she showed just how dangerous she could be in top form. Driver George Napolitano Jr. sent her to the front end early and didn’t have much pressure to the half-mile marker, which allowed him to rate her conservatively. Frau Blucher put on a show in the second half of the mile, keeping the pursuit at bay and eventually closing in :27:4 to win by 1 ¼ lengths over Possessed Fashion. The winning time of 1:51:4 matched the track record for aged trotting mares, which had previously been shared by Beatgoeson Hanover and In Your Room. Frau Blucher now joins male trotting superstar Father Patrick as the only horses to occupy two spots on the Pocono track record page.
Other top trotters this week include: Schalom G (George Napolitano Jr., Neal Ehrhart), who moved up in class on Tuesday night to score his second straight condition win, this one in 1:54:4; Rossini (Jason Bartlett, Jim Raymer), who powered to a condition victory on Saturday night in 1:53:1; and Raise The Curtain (Jason Bartlett, Timothy Lancaster), who rallied Wednesday night for his second straight condition win on Wednesday night in a career-best 1:54:1.
PACER OF THE WEEK: BIG BOY DREAMS
The barn of Pocono’s leading trainer Rene Allard never seems to run out of pacers able to compete at the highest levels. Already in 2015 we’ve seen Domethatagain and Sparky Mark take Pacer of the Week honors for their exploits in Open and condition paces at Pocono. Big Boy Dreams had hopes he could join them on Saturday night in a $30,000 Open pace.
This 4-year-old stallion raced once at Pocono in April, finishing a close 3rd in a condition pace. He then went to Canada for two races in the Confederation Cup, finishing 3rd in the big-money final, and followed that up with an Open Handicap victory at Yonkers. On Saturday night, Big Boy Dreams rolled to the front end with Simon Allard in the bike, and when he made it to the half in :55:3 on a night when the wind was helping horses in the front stretch, you knew he was going to be tough to catch.
Big Boy Dreams turned on the jets in the second half of the mile and stayed strong to the finish line. He ended up winning by a length in 1:49:4, a new career-best, over Texican N, giving him two consecutive wins over Open competition. He has a lot of competition in his barn for accolades, but Big Boy Dreams is racing as well as any of his stablemates right now, which is high praise indeed.
Honorable mention on the pacing side includes: McKenry (George Napolitano Jr., Chris Oakes), a 3-year-old who picked up his second straight condition victory on Tuesday night, this time in a career-best 1:51:4; Caviart Shelley (Jim Morrill Jr., Ron Burke), a mare who ripped off her fifth straight condition win on Wednesday night in a career-best time of 1:50:4; and Cloris Hanover (Tyler Buter, Todd Buter), who won a condition pace against other mares with ease for the second straight week, doing it in a time of 1:51.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: INTERNAL CHECK
This pacing mare, with Jim Morrill Jr. driving, rallied from way back on the outside to upend a claiming handicap field on Wednesday night at 22-1, paying off $47.60 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: GEORGE NAPOLITANO JR.
This was a typical George Nap week, as he hit double digits in wins over the four racing nights and chalked up five victories against the elite competition on Saturday night.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: KEVIN CARR
Carr’s training average at Pocono has been solid for several years running, and she showed off his wares with back-to-back winners on the card 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].
Oct 22, 2014 | Racing
October 10-16, 2014
With a couple of Friday nights added to the racing schedule in October, racing fans at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs have been able to enjoy four nights of live action per week lately. That means a bunch more races than usual featuring excellent performances deserving of consideration for another edition of the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: E STREET PLAN
Some of you may know that in my free time I do a little writing about music, including a recent book about the songs of Bruce Springsteen. And so I have a soft spot in my heart for this 5-year-old gelding whose name is derived from the name of Springsteen’s longtime partners in rock The E Street Band. Lately E Street Plan has been racing like the Boss.
Trained by Gilberto Garcia-Herrera, E Street Plan is on an impressively consistent streak, coming into last Saturday night’s action with five straight in the money including a victory on September 20. Yet Saturday night seemed to be a tough test, considering he was moving up into the non-winners of $23,000 in the last five races, the most rugged condition group at Pocono. To make things even more difficult, he had to journey first-over, a tough trip under any circumstances.
Yet by the top of the stretch, E Street Plan had corralled pacesetting Scott Rocks. In the lane, the closers lining up behind him couldn’t get there in time. Joe Pavia Jr. guided the gelding home by a half-length over I Like Dreamin in 1:49:4, a new career-best and the fastest time of the week at Pocono. With miles like that, it’s fair to say that this Springsteen-honoring horse is in the midst of his glory days.
Other top pacers this week include: Penn Turbo Ted (George Napolitano Jr., Chris Oakes), whose victory on Saturday night in 1:52:2 was his third straight against the $10,000 claimers, with two of those victories coming at Pocono; Talk Strategy (Andrew McCarthy, Peter Stratton), whose last-to-first victory on Tuesday night in 1:52:3 gave him two straight upset victories; and Bevel Hanover (Anthony Napolitano, John Barchi), who earned his second straight condition claiming victory on Tuesday night, this one coming in a career-best 1:51:4.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: HE’S LUCKY
This 8-year-old gelding has not only been splitting his time between Pocono and Harrah’s at Chester, but he’s also been moving back and forth between claiming and condition events. All of that change might bother some horses, but He’s Lucky, trained by Kevin Carr, has managed a nice hot streak of late. It began two starts ago with a near-miss second in a condition trot at Pocono, losing by just a neck to Cathy’s Princess.
He followed that up with a victory in a condition trot at Harrah’s in 1:55 on October 2. On Tuesday night, he took on a claiming handicap group in his return to Pocono, with claiming prices ranging from $12,500 to $15,000. Since He’s Lucky was on the high end of that range, he had to start from the far outside post in a nine-horse field, a difficult task even for a horse with the back class he possessed.
Finding no other option with the tough post, driver George Napolitano Jr. sent He’s Lucky on a taxing first-over grind. Making a steady advance through the field, the veteran gelding worked his way past pacesetting Iain’tnomomaluke and held off the pocket horse Fancy Label by 1 ¼ lengths in 1:53:4, a new career-best. No matter the track or the class, He’s Lucky looks awful tough to beat right now.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Waiting On A Woman (Andrew McCarthy, Ron Burke), who put together a powerhouse performance in a condition victory on Saturday night in 1:52:2, a new career-best and easily the fastest trotting time of the week at MSPD; Quantum Cashman (Mike Simons, Gail Wrubel), who won Friday night’s featured claiming handicap trot in a career-best 1:53:3; and Avalicious (Andrew McCarthy, Ron Burke), who picked up a condition win on Saturday night in 1:53:2, a new career-best.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: ARTSBRED CAMOTION
This gelding was 8th in the same class a week ago, so his win in a claimer on Wednesday night with Matt Kakaley was a huge surprise at 27-1, paying off $57.40 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: SCOTT ZERON
Zeron only makes occasional appearances at Pocono, but he usually makes his presence felt, such as on Friday night when he picked up three victories.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: PAUL HOLZMAN
Holzman sent out just three starters on Saturday night, but two of them, C C Stormey and Machin Music, came back winners even though neither was the race favorite.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Sep 30, 2014 | Racing
September 19-25, 2014
Racing at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs has geared down somewhat in terms of quantity, as the schedule now features three live nights per week. But the quality hasn’t let down a bit, as evidenced by a Saturday night card that included no pacing miles slower than 1:50:2 and no trotting miles slower than 1:54. We even had a world-record performance, which, of course, stands out among this edition of the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: BIGTOWN HERO
This 6-year-old gelding was struggling with the upper reaches of the pacing ranks when he was last here in June, but he’s been performing well since then at other tracks, winning three of his last five races. The last four of those races came after he switched barns to be trained by Rene Allard, Pocono’s leading trainer, including a come-from-behind win in an Open Handicap in his last race at Yonkers as a 7-1 shot.
His confidence sufficiently boosted, he returned to Pocono to compete on Saturday night in a Preferred Handicap pace for a purse of $25,000. It was a stacked field, including star veteran Golden Receiver and Dancin Yankee, who had owned the oval at Pocono in his previous appearances in 2014. But driver Ron Pierce drove Bigtown Hero as if there were no other horses on the track, sending him to the front for a huge lead as each fraction ticked off proved more impressive than the one before.
In the stretch, Bigtown Hero began to slow ever so slightly. It was a good thing the lead he built up was so substantial, because Dancin Yankee and Aslan came closing at him fast. Pierce urged him home for a half-length victory in a stunning time of 1:47:3. That broke the world record for aged gelding pacers on a 5/8-mile oval, which was set last June at Pocono by Foiled Again and then matched by Abelard Hanover.
Other top pacers this week include: Ring Warrior (Matt Kakaley, Brewer Adams), a colt who followed up four consecutive wins at Ocean Downs with a victory at Pocono in a condition pace on Tuesday night in a career-best 1:54; Cherokee Hunter (Simon Allard, Rene Allard) whose condition win on Tuesday night was his second straight and came in a career-best time of 1:52:1; and Wake Up Peter (Tyler Buter, Larry Remmen), who scorched a condition pacing group on Saturday night in 1:49:2.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: SEVRUGA
Not all slumps are created equal. To wit, consider the struggles Sevruga had been having in the summer months. Last year he earned nearly $500,000 facing the best trotters around, and the highlight of his season was a world-record performance at Pocono with a win in 1:50:3. But he had come up empty for three months straight in terms of wins heading into Saturday night’s $25,000 Preferred trot.
In his last three races at Pocono, all against the most rugged trotters on the grounds, Sevruga, a 6-year-old gelding trained by Kevin Carr, had hit the board every time and had lost by just a neck in the last two. On Saturday night, he enjoyed his first quality post position in more than a month and took advantage of it, breezing to the front early with George Napolitano Jr. in the bike.
Things were by no means easy from that point, as Wind Of The North put up a sustained first-over challenge to the lead. But Sevruga had been rated well enough early in the race that he was able to dig deep in the final strides and win by a nose in a rapid 1:52:1. Maybe it wasn’t fair to say that Sevruga was in a slump considering the quality of his competition and the multiple near-misses, but it is fair to say that his losing streak is history and a lengthy winning streak might just be in the offing.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Tui (Anthony Napolitan, Don Wiest), a Pocono fan-favorite mare who scored her first win of the season on Saturday night in a tough condition group in 1:53:1; A Cool Million (George Napolitano Jr., Gilberto Garcia-Herrera), a mare who moved up her claiming price and won her second straight race on Tuesday night, doing so in a career-best 1:54; and Fortunista (George Napolitano Jr., Gilberto Garcia-Herrera), a mare who beat the boys in a tough condition group on Saturday night in a career-best 1:53:1.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: TRANSCENDING
An outside post and long odds didn’t bother this veteran pacer as he came from out of the clouds late to shock a condition field on Saturday night at 49-1, paying off an even $100 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: RON PIERCE
Pierce had it grooving on Saturday night, winning four consecutive races on the card, all in gate-to-wire fashion, a streak that culminated with the world-record win by Bigtown Hero.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: JOE PAVIA JR.
Joe still does such a great job as a catch driver that his training abilities can sometimes be taken for granted, but a training double on Wednesday night put them front and center.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Sep 22, 2014 | Racing
September 20, 2014
Bigtown Hero set a new world record for aged geldings on the pace in a Preferred Handicap victory on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The race carried a purse of $25,000.
Leaving from post position #4 in a field of seven as the 8-5 second choice, Bigtown Hero (American Ideal-Art Account), a 6-year-old gelding from the Rene Allard barn, burned his way to the early lead. Driver Ron Pierce decided to cut the gelding loose, creating unforgiving fractions of 26:3, 53:3, and 1:19:4 and a huge lead.
In the stretch, Bigtown Hero started to slow slightly, allowing for wild closing rallies by second-place Aslan and third-place Dancin Yankee, the 4-5 favorite, that came up a half-length short of the winner. The winning time of 1:47:3 shattered the mark of 1:48 for aged geldings on a 5/8-mile oval, which was set by Foiled Again in June of 2013 at Pocono and then matched a week later at the track by Abelard Hanover.
Bigtown Hero, owned by Allard Racing Inc. and Yves Sarrazin, was fresh off an Open Handicap win at Yonkers and now has 9 wins in 27 2014 races. It was his 24th career victory, pushing his lifetime earnings to $187,823.
Earlier in the night at Pocono in a $25,000 Preferred trot, Sevruga (S J’s Caviar-Stunning Lindsey), a 6-year-old gelding from the Kevin Carr, scored his first win since the spring by flashing early speed that held up in the final strides. The 3-5 favorite in a field of six, Sevruga, with George Napolitano Jr. in the bike, led at every pole and dug deep late to hold off Wind Of The North by a nose in 1:52:1. Not Afraid finished third.
