Jun 25, 2014 | Racing
The great card of racing this past Saturday at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, primarily populated by elimination races for this Saturday’s $2.2M Sun Stakes Saturday, flirted with the divisional world record table on more than one occasion without any new names being set down, but the card as a whole did produce one record – according to the USTA’s Trotting and Pacing Guide, it was the fastest card ever in harness history, with an average win time of 1:49.2 for the 16 races.
T&P Guide history notes two occasions when a race card’s average win time was 1:49.3 – on Saturday, July 16, 2005 at The Meadowlands, a 13-race card (p. 297, 2013 T&P Guide), and 52 weeks ago to the day at the same track (Saturday, June 22, 2013), when the Sun Stakes Saturday elim card produced the same 1:49.3 average over 14 races (p. 288, 2014 T&P Guide).
This past Saturday’s 1:49.2 average included two trotting miles – a 1:52.2 by Nuncio and a 1:52.4 by Father Patrick in the two Earl Beal Trot elims. In all, of the 16 races, 11 miles went 1:50 or better; 8 went 1:49 or better; and 3 went in 1:48 or better – and those three came consecutively: Domethatagain upsetting his Ben Franklin Pace elim in 1:48, McWicked taking the fastest of the Max C. Hempt Pace elims in the same time, and then Sweet Lou taking the other Franklin elim in 1:47.4.
This Saturday’s Sun Stakes Saturday card will include the finals of the Franklin (FFAP), Hempt (3PC), and Beal (3TC), all worth $500,000, plus the $300,000 James Lynch Final (3PF), the $100,000 Sun Invitational trot (which, according to some reports, may actually help the 1:50 count, if you can believe that) and the $100,000 USTA Invitational pace, plus consolation races for the four major races as they fill, plus a strong undercard (this past Saturday’s non-elim races averaged 1:49.3 themselves).
Post time for Saturday’s Sun Stakes Saturday card at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs is set for 6:30 p.m. If you can’t make it to the races, wager via www.ibetmohegan.com; or stop by any of the 3 OTW locations; East Stroudsburg; Lehigh Valley, or Carbondale.
Jun 25, 2014 | Racing
June 21-27, 2014
The Weekly Awards will be taking a two-week hiatus so we can focus on all the excitement of the upcoming Sun Stakes Saturday. This past Saturday Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs hosted the eliminations for four huge stakes races: The James M. Lynch Memorlal (3-year-old pacing fillies), The Max C. Hempt Memorial (3-year-old open pacers), The Earl Beal Jr. Memorial (3-year-old open trotters), and The Ben Franklin (Open pacers).
While some might scoff at the results of the eliminations as being inconclusive, the fact is that it’s really impossible for horses in fields this good to take it easy and expect to make it through to the finals. And any night when a significant percentage of the world’s best horses and horsemen are in attendance deserves our full attention, even if the really huge purses won’t be up on the line until June 28.
So here’s a look at some of the important events from the eliminations:
JAMES M. LYNCH MEMORIAL
This one looks like the most wide-open of the four stakes fields, as just one (Fancy Desire) of the three favorites in the eliminations won, and one (Act Now) didn’t even make the final. Uffizi Hanover, who probably had the best reputation of any of the sophomore fillies coming into the night, started slowly but fought hard to rally for second behind Cinamony just so she could make the final.
That all could mean that Fancy Desire is the one to watch for the final. Trained by Kevin Carr, this filly loves the Pocono surface, winning her last three times at the track. She scored the most decisive elimination victory, pacing away in 1:49 with George Napolitano Jr. in the bike.
MAX C. HEMPT MEMORIAL
The Ron Burke barn will be well-represented in the Hempt final. Two of the three elimination winners came courtesy of Burke: At Press Time, an 8-1 shot who rallied from a significant deficit in the pocket to win in 1:48:2, and All Bets Off, who avenged his only loss of the season, which came at Pocono in May, by winning his split in 1:48:3. Matt Kakaley drove both winners.
Still, it was Casie Coleman’s trainee McWicked who stamped himself as the favorite. Despite an arduous journey to the lead in his split and scorching fractions, he still managed to pace away and hide late with David Miller driving for a win in 1:48.
EARL BEAL JR. MEMORIAL
I’ve never seen a star horse who seems to expound as little effort as Father Patrick. After winning his elimination without batting an eye in 1:52:4, his record now stands at four-for-four this year with 14 wins in 15 lifetime races. And still there is the nagging feeling that we haven’t seen his best yet, which is a scary thought for the rest of the division.
Maybe the one to beat him this year will be the only one who has ever beaten him. That’s Nuncio, who now is his stablemate in the Jimmy Takter barn. Nuncio stayed perfect by winning his elimination in 1:52:2, two-fifths faster than Father Patrick.
BEN FRANKLIN FREE-FOR-ALL
When he was last at Pocono at the start of May, Sweet Lou went off at 15-1 in an Invitational pace and finished third. Since then, he’s been unbeatable, winning four straight, including a command performance in his Franklin elimination in his return to MSPD. His winning time of 1:47:4 with Ron Pierce in the bike was the fastest of the night.
The other Franklin elimination was billed as the second ever showdown between Captaintreacherous, last year’s champion of everything as a 3-year-old, and Foiled Again, the veteran superstar and earner of over $6 million in his career. Nobody told Domethatagain, driven by Simon Allard for his brother trainer Rene Allard, about the plotline though, and he upset the apple cart with a pocket trip at 29-1.
As you can tell, there are ton of intriguing storylines for the finals. They’ll settle it on the track Saturday night, and it should be something special.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
May 30, 2014 | Racing
May 17, 2014
Despite making their first starts of 2014, Tellitlikeitis and Somestarsomewhere delivered stellar winning performances Saturday night in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action for three-year-old colts and geldings on the pace at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. There were four Sire Stakes divisions held on the night, with purses ranging from $66,363 to $66,763.
Tellitlikeitis (Well Said-Kikikatie) was making his first start since November, yet a pocket trip led to a rally in the passing lane for the victory by three-quarters of a length over Limelight Beach. Brett Miller was aboard Tellitlikeitis, the 6-5 second choice, for trainer Jimmy Takter. Seventh Secret finished third, while 3-5 favorite Sometimes Said finished off the board in 5th.
Somestarsomewhere (Somebeachsomewhere-Lovely Assistant) had been laid off since a third in the Breeders Crown at Pocono in October. Yet he went off as the 1-2 favorite in his split and delivered on that promise, taking the lead at the 3/8-mile marker and gamely winning a thrilling stretch battle with half-brother Somewhere In L A by a nose in 1:50:3. Matt Kakaley drove for trainer Ron Burke. Blooming Genius finished third.
The duo of Kakaley and Burke also scored a Sire Stakes victory with 10-1 long shot At Press Time (Western Terror-So Right). He was coming off a fourth-place finish in overnight action at Pocono in his previous start, but he found the pocket behind pacesetter Maxi Bon and got by him in the stretch by a length to score in 1:49:1. Cammikey, the 3-5 favorite who came into the race unbeaten in 2014, had to settle for 3rd.
Let’s Drink On It (Art Official-Letmedowneasy) saved the best for last in the final division, pouncing on a hot pace first-over and going away by 2 ¾ lengths to win in 1:49, the night’s fastest Sire Stakes time. Fresh off a win in Indiana, the 1-2 favorite was driven by Tyler Smith for trainer Joe Seekman. Mcwicked was best of the rest in second while Some Playa picked up the show.
May 14, 2014 | Racing
Harness racing’s “glamour division,” the three-year-old pacing colts, will open the 2014 Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs Pennsylvania Sire Stakes season this Saturday night, with four divisions of sophomores contesting the $266,252 event.
Captaintreacherous, 2013’s Pacer of the Year, opened his 3YO campaign in this same event 52 weeks ago with a victory, and many of this year’s stars in the sophomore colt pacing crop will be seeing early-season action this Saturday at the lightning-fast mountain oval.
The first division opens the evening’s 15-race card, with Sometimes Said accorded 5-2 early favoritism starting from post two for Hall of Fame driver John Campbell (who must think a lot of the colt trained by his brother Jim, since this is his only Pocono drive of the night; he’ll head right to The Meadowlands afterwards for other stakes competition). Sometimes Said was first or second in 8 of 10 freshman starts, including seconds in his PA Sires Championship and the Breeders Crown, and he started his 2014 campaign in very photogenic style with a 1:51 / 53.2 / 26.2 front-end triumph at Pocono last week.
Also highly-regarded in the first cut are Tellitlikeitis (3-1, post four, driver Brett Miller), debuting in 2014 for the all-conquering Jimmy Takter barn after a devastating 1:50.1 qualifier in which he paced his own last quarter in 25.2, and Limelight Beach (7-2, post six, David Miller), a double winner in Grand Circuit action at Lexington last year.
Race 4 will gather the PA colts for the second time, with the early 5-2 chalk being Maxi Bon (post four, driver Dave Palone). Maxi Bon is a late-developing colt, but he showed his promise by winning his seasonal debut in 1:49.4 despite being parked to the half. Cammikey (3-1, post one, Brain Zendt) seems the major danger here after opening his 2014 campaign with five victories, including a 1:51.1 / 26.4 triumph at The Meadows last start.
Race 6’s third cut finds the early pick to be Somestarsomewhere, at 5-2 from post six for the top team of trainer Ron Burke and driver Matt Kakaley. Somestarsomewhere set a world record of 1:49.4f for 2PC in his Breeders Crown elim last year, then was third in the Crown Championship. This will be his seasonal debut off of three qualifiers. Rated next 3-1 is Somewhere in L A (post four, driver Mark MacDonald, fresh off a win in the Diplomat Series Championship at Woodbine.
Race 8 rounds out the Sire Stakes action, with McWicked the 5-2 choice off a McWicked 2014 debut at Pocono last Sunday, overcoming post nine and an overland trip to tally in 1:51. Simon Allard will have the sulky duty from post six. Allstar Partner is rated next at 3-1 for driver George Napolitano Jr., but last year’s PA Sire Stakes champ for this division will have to overcome the outside post eight.
Also on the Pocono card is a super $25,000 Preferred handicap pace, featuring the likes of Dancin Yankee, winner of the Van Rose Memorial here in 1:49 on a good track on Kentucky Derby Day; Emeritus Maximus, gritty as he can be taking last week’s feature here; and Clear Vision, winner of the Levy Consolation.
Post time for the 15-race card at Pocono on Saturday is slotted for 6:30, though that may be delayed a few minutes dependent on a thoroughbred race in Baltimore immediately previously.
Jul 19, 2013 | Racing
July 17, 2013
Two-year-old pacing colts and geldings took center stage on Wednesday night at Pocono when they battled it out in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action. There were four divisions held, with purses ranging from $68,752 to $69,153.
In the first division, McWicked (McArdle-Western Sahara) saved ground all the way then shot through an opening on the inside in the stretch to win by 1 ¼ lengths in 1:52. Andy Miller was in the bike for trainer Julie Miller, as McWicked, the 3-1 third choice, won for the second time in three career races. All Star Partner finished second while He’s Got It, who led much of the mile, faded to third.
Let’s Drink On It (Art Official-Letmedowneasy), the 2-5 favorite in the second split, led at every pole with Jim Morrill Jr. in the bike and won by three-quarters of a length in 1:51:4. The colt from the Joe Seekman barn now has two wins in three lifetime starts, with both of those victories coming on the Pocono oval. Cabana Boy Hanover finished second and Seventh Secret picked up the show.
8-5 second choice Limelight Beach (Somebeachsomewhere-Benear) used a pocket trip and a powerful late kick to win the third division by 2 ¼ lengths in 1:53. It was the second straight Sire Stakes win for Limelight Beach, who had David Miller in the bike for trainer Brian Brown. Sometimes Said finished second while At Press Time was third.
In the final Sire Stakes division, Bristol Bay (Somebeachsomewhere-Terri Hall), the 6-1 second choice, used the passing lane to rally for a tight victory by a neck over 1-5 favorite West Matters in 1:53. Matt Kakaley did the driving for trainer Chris Oakes, as Bristol Bay earned his maiden win in his third career start. Spinmeister was third.
