Jun 3, 2012 | Racing
May 25-31, 2012
As the month of May comes to a close, the action at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs is so massive that it can no longer be contained by four nights of racing per week. Starting in June, Sunday nights will be added to the schedule for the next three months. That means extra action for the Pocono racing fans, and it also means the Weekly Awards stand to get even more competitive. Here is this week’s edition:
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: TUI
They say that records are made to be broken, but some more records are more vulnerable than others. Anybody who has watched Tui, a four-year-old mare from the barn of Don Wiest, this season knows that she represented a serious threat to the track and world record of 1:53:1 set by Stage Show in 2009. The only problem was that a record can only be set in a victory, and Tui’s rugged competition, mostly older male horses, made a win a difficult prospect.
On Friday night, the mare faced off against a tough condition group which contained six horses with more career earnings than her coming into the race. That didn’t stop the fans from making her the favorite at 3-2, and Anthony Napolitano drove her like she was the one to beat, sending her to the front and letting everybody else try and catch her.
On this night, nobody stood a chance. Tui blew the field away by 2 ¼ lengths and tripped the timer in 1:52:3, giving her a new track record and making her the fastest 4-year-old mare ever on a 5/8-mile oval. If she keeps up at this rate, the aged mares’ record of 1:52:1 will be in her sights in 2013.
Other top trotters this week include: Live Jazz (George Napolitano Jr., Ray Schnittker), who followed up a win at The Meadowlands with a condition win at Pocono on Friday night in a new career-best time of 1:53:4; Hot Shot Blue Chip (Joe Pavia Jr., Jonas Czernyson), whose victory in the week’s featured trot on Saturday night came in 1:52, matching the fastest trotting time posted at Pocono this season; and Keystone Torch (George Napolitano Jr., Pierre Paradis), a Trotter of the Week a few weeks ago who still has winning streak going following his fifth consecutive claiming win on Friday in 1:56:1.
PACER OF THE WEEK: ALL SPIRIT
It’s rare for one of the winners of our major awards to get the trophy after winning a race as a long shot. That’s because, to be considered, they must have performed well in recent weeks, which means that they’re usually considered to be one of the top picks in a particular race.
All Spirit is an exception to that rule. Even though the mare had won her previous two starts, one at Pocono and one at Tioga, going into Tuesday night’s $25,000 featured pace for mares, she still went off at odds of 21-1. That’s probably because she was stepping up in class, but she showed no fear once the gate moved away.
Working from a pocket trip, driver Howard Parker urged All Spirit, trained by Judy Lanpher, to the outside in the stretch and she responded by upending favorite Southwind Jazmin to win by a nose in 1:51:2 on a sloppy track. Long odds or not, this mare is on such a hot streak that she’s a threat to win any race she enters.
Honorable mention on the pacing side this week goes to: Best Around (George Napolitano Jr., Paul Holzman), a mare who scored her second consecutive condition victory on Friday night in 1:51:2; Ol’ Man River (Matt Romano driver and trainer), who moved up in class and scored his second straight condition win on Friday night in 1:50:1, a new career mark; and Natural Woman N (Jason Bartlett, Rene Allard), the 11-year-old mare who won her fourth straight distaff pace on Wednesday night in 1:52:1.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: MAMIE’S JAILBIRD
This filly with Matt Romano on the bike stung a batch of condition trotters on Tuesday night as a 25-1 long shot, which brought in a $53.40 payout on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: ANDREW MCCARTHY
One of the steadiest drivers at Pocono for the past few seasons, McCarthy had another solid week with six wins, including doubles on Friday and Tuesday.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: JASON ROBINSON
After a monster 2011 campaign at Pocono, Robinson is once again one of the top trainers on the grounds, solidifying his standing with three more victories this week.
That’s it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Nov 12, 2011 | Racing
Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs Closes Out 2011 Season
November 12, 2011
Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs closed out its 2011 season by honoring some of its finest horses, trainers, and drivers, while Golden Receiver provided one more highlight by winning the featured pace on Saturday night.
Golden Receiver, trained by Mark Harder and driven to victory by Howard Parker, picked up his second straight win in the winners of over $25,000 lifetime condition pace, which carried a purse of $29,000. The gelding won in 1:49:3, holding off Vlos by 1 ¼ lengths.
Throughout the week, Pocono honored its top performers of the season. The honorees included: Matt Kakaley, most driving wins; Dave Palone, highest UDRS; Lou Pena, leader in training wins and UTRS; Drop Red, Pacer of the Year; Winning Mister, Trotter of the Year; Economy Terror, 2-year-old of the Year; Forever Ivy, Mare of the Year; Segundo Hanover, Claiming Pacer of the Year; Natural Woman N, Claiming Mare of the Year; and Pembrook Street, Claiming Trotter of the Year.
Mohegan Sun would like to thank all of its racing fans for helping us provide another outstanding season, and we look forward to the upcoming campaign scheduled to begin in the spring of 2012.
Nov 2, 2011 | Racing
Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs Week in Review
October 28-November 3, 2011
We are just a few racing nights away from closing night here at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. Next week, I’ll use this article to give a general overview of the season that was. But for this week, it’s time to honor the 2011 Pocono Horses of the Year. These were the transcendent performers that shone the brightest throughout the 2011 season, and although they weren’t easy choices, I think we’ve got the cream of the crop. Much thanks to Terri Phalen and Jennifer Starr for their help in making these selections.
PACER OF THE YEAR: DROP RED
The stallion has been a major factor at Pocono for several seasons, but he has been especially fine in 2011, both in terms of durability and productivity. Trained by Robert Horowitz, Drop Red won all the way back on March 25 at Pocono, on his way to 5 wins in his first 9 races in the meet. After a little summer slump, he’s been roaring again, winning his last three starts. What’s most impressive is that he has done the majority of his work against some of the best condition and Open pacers on the grounds and has been no worse the wear for it.
TROTTER OF THE YEAR: WINNING MISTER
This standout from the Walter Carroll barn cut short his season in August, but what a season it was up to that point. Much of the damage he did came at MSPD, and all of it came against the best of the best. In 7 races at Pocono, all against Open company, the stallion hit the board every single time and notched three victories. The standout performance for Winning Mister came on June 10, when, with George Napolitano Jr. in the bike, he scorched the track with a victory in 1:52, setting a new lifetime mark and a Pocono track record in the process.
MARE OF THE YEAR: FOREVER IVY
Charlie Norris trains this standout distaff pacer and often drove her as well in her magnificent 2011 campaign. Again, this was a case of a horse not ducking any foes, facing the very best mares on the grounds week in and week out. The results were hard to deny. She arrived from The Meadows in April and began winning not long after. 6 victories in 15 races is a pretty good batting average, and she has ramped up the intensity as the season has begun to wane, notching four wins in her last five races. Among her Pocono wins this season was a career-best mile of 1:50:3.
CLAIMING PACER OF THE YEAR: SEGUNDO HANOVER
There were plenty of claimers this year that ran off dazzling winning streaks, made big jumps in class, and won a ton of races overall. Segundo Hanover managed to do all three of those things, and he did so under the tutelage of seven different trainers during the season. All 13 of his victories this season were at the friendly confines of Pocono, and he had two winning streaks of at least three races. In addition, he doubled his claiming price along the way from $7,500 to $15,000.
CLAIMING MARE OF THE YEAR: NATURAL WOMAN N
Known for being a bit ornery, this veteran mare took out all of her aggression on her distaff competition this season. She has won more races (10) and earned more money ($107,072) than in any season in her career. Eight of those victories came at Pocono, and she hit the board often even when she didn’t find the winner’s circle. That’s not too bad considering that she is now 10 years old, and she even earned a career-best mile of 1:52 during the 2011 campaign.
CLAIMING TROTTER OF THE YEAR: PEMBROOK STREET
This has been a breakthrough season for the gelding, as he has won half of his 18 starts in 2011. 7 of his 9 wins came after arriving at Pocono from The Meadows in July. Even more impressive is the fact that he was able to step up out of the claiming handicap trotting group for a win over the winners of over $25,000 conditioners, which is just a notch below the Open trotters. Pembrook Street also churned out a career-best victory at Pocono in 2011 in 1:52:4.
2-YEAR-OLD OF THE YEAR: ECONOMY TERROR
The pride of the Chris Oakes barn, who was just crowned the 2-year-old distaff pacing champ of North America following her win in the Breeders Crown at Woodbine, made just three starts at Pocono this season, but they turned out pretty well. Economy Terror won her debut at Pocono back in July, followed that up with a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes win here in August, and sealed the deal with a win in the Pennsylvania Championships for 2-year-old pacing fillies in September in 1:51:1, shattering a track record.
Next week, we’ll wrap things up with our review of the 2011 season. Until then, we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
