Jul 3, 2019 | General News
Trainers of some quality three-year-old colt trotters will have an idea about the future route of their charges – the Grand Circuit, state-bred competition, or “back to the drawing board” – after they contest three $30,000 divisions of a Pennsylvania All-Stars event at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Saturday evening.
In the third race first division, the Muscle Hill gelding Goes Down Smooth has been established as the early favorite from post two for trainer Ron Burke and driver Matt Kakaley. The winner of the Walner series final at The Meadowlands and a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at The Meadows, Goes Down Smooth qualified for the Beal Trot Championship here last Saturday, but was far behind early and then suffered interference; he and his connections will be hoping for better racing luck here in the field of six.
The Åke Svanstedt stable, which masterminded the upset of the heralded Greenshoe in the Beal Championship with Marseille, will send out Night Hall as the second choice from post four, with Eric Carlson guiding the Muscle Hill colt who shows a second and a third in Pennsylvania stakes competition.
In the fifth race second division, the Explosive Matter gelding Explosivebreakaway, a full brother to the top mare Phaetosive, starts from the rail for trainer Fred Grant and driver Tom Jackson. The lightly-raced colt, locally-based, has six wins in ten lifetime starts, including a Pennsylvania Sire Stake win over the track and a solid victory in an overnight race here last week.
The Cantab Hall colt Lindy’s Crazy Hall has two wins in three starts in 2019, including a Stallion Series victory, and he may be coming on strongly now as he starts from post three for trainer Domenico Cecere and driver Drew Monti.
In the third division tenth race, the Muscle Hill gelding Final Claim looks to rebound from the rail for the Burke / Kakaley team. Final Claim was undefeated in three seasonal starts prior to the Walner final, where he made a break, and following a layoff after that race, he did well after a hard trip in his comeback attempt.
Rock My Muscles and Chiplosive both have Stallion Series victories to their credit, but in this division they have had the misfortune to draw the outside posts six and seven, respectively.
First of fourteen races on the Saturday night card at Pocono is listed for 7 p.m.
Jul 3, 2019 | General News
June 29 to July 5, 2019
Expectations are a funny thing. They can put you in a mindset where you can only see a few possible outcomes for some upcoming event, when, in actuality, life has a funny way of showing us that anything can happen at any time. That is certainly true in the world of high-stakes harness racing, where unpredictability is built into the sport because of the dependence on animals to repeat performances week after week against other top-notch competitors all trying to do the same thing.
After watching the eliminations for the 2019 edition of Sun Stakes Saturday at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, I thought I had a pretty good feel for what would transpire. But I can’t say that any of the four Finals this past Saturday worked out anything like what I would have expected, other than the fact that they were all as exciting as could be predicted. I clearly wasn’t alone in my confusion, as none of the four races was won by a favorite, and the odds for the winners got progressively longer as the night went on.
Let’s take a look back at what transpired and try to pick apart how the unexpected became commonplace on this star-studded night of racing.
THE JAMES M. LYNCH MEMORIAL PACE FOR THREE-YEAR-OLD PACING FILLIES:
What We Expected To Happen: A showdown between Treacherous Reign and Warrawee Ubeaut, two fillies who have been going back and forth at each other in a battle for divisional supremacy.
What Actually Happened: Well, in this case, we weren’t all that far off, because there was indeed a showdown between Warrawee Ubeaut and Treacherous Reign, the top two choices in the race. But that showdown occurred too early and for too long a chunk of the mile, leaving both a bit weary in the lane. That left the 3-1 third choice Stonebridge Soul in perfect position in the pocket. Driver Tim Tetrick guided the Chris Ryder trainee up the passing lane for the victory by three-quarters of a length in 1:49:3, providing the first indication that the pocket was going to be the place to be on this night.
THE MAX C. HEMPT MEMORIAL PACE FOR THREE-YEAR-OLD PACERS
What We Expected To Happen: Proof, with a much better post position than the other two elimination winners, would build on his outstanding career-best mile in the eliminations and dominate.
What Actually Happened: Proof did indeed go off with 1-5 expectations, but wasn’t on his game after starting slow, eventually finishing sixth. Meanwhile, Captain Victorious tried to double on his elim win with another gutsy front-pacing effort. But he couldn’t shake Shake That House, trained by Chris Oakes, who has a shelf full of huge stakes victories at Pocono. From the pocket, Shake That House, with Brian Sears in the bike, erupted late for a two-length win in a career-best 1:49:2, paying off handsomely for his backers with 8-1 odds.
THE BEN FRANKLIN PACE FOR FREE-FOR-ALL PACERS
What We Expected To Happen: A three-way donnybrook between Western Fame, McWicked, and Lather Up that would produce a definitive aged pacing group standout.
What Actually Happened: Lather Up continued to be haunted by clunkers during the biggest nights at Pocono, starting slowly and eventually breaking stride. McWicked battled first over but could never get even with the leader. Western Fame, who went off as the favorite, set that pace, but was pressured enough by McWicked that he labored in the lane. Which left This Is The Plan, winless in 2019 coming into the race, ready for his closeup. The Ron Burke trainee came flying from the pocket with Yannick Gingras driving to win at 12-1 in 1:48:2.
THE EARL BEAL JR. MEMORIAL TROT
What We Expected To Happen: A coronation for Greenshoe, the colt who many thought could only lose if he broke stride (and even then, many wondered if it would matter.)
What Actually Happened: Trainer/driver Ake Svanstedt didn’t get the memo apparently, because he fired out from an outside post with 55-1 shot Marseille as if the outcome was still up in the air. Greenshoe, meanwhile, got away a bit lethargically, in much the same manner as he did in the elimination. The difference on this night was that he was beaten to the punch in the outer flow, meaning that he couldn’t glide up to his liking. Once he finally did shake free, it was too late to catch the well-rated Marseille, the stunning winner in 1:52:3.
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].
Jun 5, 2019 | Racing
June 1 to June 7, 2019
This past week at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono featured some of the most extensive stakes action that we’ve seen so far this year. On Saturday and Sunday nights, Pocono hosted Pennsylvania All-Stars, Pennsylvania Sire Stakes, Stallion Series and Great Northeast Open Series races. Even though the weather didn’t quite cooperate (again), the action was still scorching. Let’s take a look at our top performers as we hand out the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: RECLAMATION
What a streak this four-year-old mare from the Ron Burke barn has put together over the past few months. After finishing second in her first start of the season at the Meadowlands, she ripped off three straight wins there in various condition groups. She then arrived at Pocono and the winning continued. In featured condition paces for mares on May 21 and May 28, she captured victories with winning times of 1:50:4 and 1:50, the latter a career-best.
On Tuesday night, she was at it again in the $17,500 feature. In her previous victories at Pocono, she had shown versatility, winning once on the lead and once in come-from-behind fashion. On Tuesday night while leaving from post position #3 in a field of nine as a 1-9 favorite, Reclamation was sent to the front around the first turn by driver Matt Kakaley. She set honest fractions from there, quick but not out of control, and still held the advantage at the top of the stretch.
As has been the case with most of her victories during this streak, Reclamation didn’t blow anybody away. Both Clear Idea and Sidewalk Dancer came at her late with closing kick. But Reclamation once again stood up to the challenge, holding off Clear Idea to win by a half-length in 1:51:2. This mare simply doesn’t like to lose, as evidenced by her 13 wins in 21 career races. After her Tuesday night triumph, she is clearly at the head of the distaff class at Pocono.
Other top pacers this week include: Demi Hill (George Napolitano Jr., Chris Oakes), a filly who picked up her third straight condition won at Pocono in the slop on Sunday night, matching her career-best of 1:51:3 in the process; Beach Boogie (Simon Allard, Rene Allard), whose career-best 1:49:2 mile in a condition victory at Pocono on Saturday night was the fastest time posted this week; and Alii Nui (Marcus Miller, Erv Miller), a three-year-old filly whose victory on Saturday night in Pennsylvania All-Stars action gave hew two straight wins at Pocono, each of which came in 1:51:3, her career mark.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: EXPLOSIVEBREAKAWAY
Sunday night’s action at Pocono was highlighted by three divisions of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for three-year-old trotting colts and geldings, with each race carrying a hefty purse of $56,868. And you could have made the argument that the showcase horse coming into the night in those races was Osterc, the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion at age two and winner of stakes races in his first two starts of 2019 in impressive fashion.
Explosivebreakaway has been impressive as well, just maybe not against the same caliber of competition as Osterc. The three-year-old gelding trained by Fred Grant came into Sunday night with four wins and three second-place finishes in seven career races. He also won a non-winners of five condition at Pocono in his first start of the year by seven lengths on May 21. And, in the Sire Stakes race on Sunday, he found himself nestled in the pocket behind Osterc, who was a 1-2 favorite.
Osterc faced some heat on the front end from first-over Summit In Sight, but the fractions never got away from him. Still, as he rounded the final turn, he made a break of stride. That left Explosivebreakaway and Summit In Sight to battle it out from there. Driver Tom Jackson summoned more energy out of Explosivebreakaway, who trotted away from Summit In Sight to win by 2 ¾ lengths at 9-1. His winning time of 1:54:2 in the slop matched his career-best from his previous race.
Honorable mention on the trotting side this week goes to: Crystal Fashion (Tim Tetrick, Jim Campbell), who handled the field in the Great Northeast Open series with ease on Sunday night, coasting to a comfortable win in the slop in 1:53; Marseille (Ake Svanstedt driver and trainer), who made his maiden win a memorable won, capturing a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes race on Sunday night in 1:53:3, fastest time of the three divisions; and Frankie Mullins (Marcus Miller, Bruce Clarke), who followed up a win at Tioga with a condition victory on Tuesday afternoon at Pocono in 1:54:4, a new lifetime mark.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: BLUE AND BOLD
This trotting gelding used the Stallion Series as the setting for his upset, winning a division on Sunday night with George Napolitano Jr. in the bike at 19-1, paying off $40.40 on a $2-win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: MARCUS MILLER
The stakes competition brought out the best in Marcus this week, as he captured an All-Stars race with Alii Nui and a Stallion Series win with Nextroundsonme at odds of 7-1 and 8-1, respectively.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: ANDREW HARRIS
Harris came up with a couple big victories on the Sunday night program, winning a Sire Stakes with White Tiger and a Stallion Series division with Blue And Bold.
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].
