Sep 7, 2019 | Racing
The top pointearners in the eight divisions of Pennsylvania Stallion Series, a class just below the Sire Stakes program, will be meeting during a Monday twilight card at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono to contest $40,000 Championship races.
Perhaps the most interesting entrant in the Stallion Series Championships is the three-year-old Muscle Massive colt Kate’s Massive, who will attempt to become only the third Stallion Series Championship winner at two to repeat at three, behind trotting filly Migisi (2010-11) and pacing colt Nimble And Quick (2015-16). Kate’s Massive made a break in his first StS start of 2018, then won two prelims before taking the final; this year he won all three of the prelims he entered and should be favored from post seven in race nine. In the companion filly event, race seven, Spring In Paris recorded three wins and a second in the prelims and figures the horse to beat from post four.
Among the sophomore pacers, race thirteen’s colt event had only two two-time StS prelim winners, Under Paid and Skip To My Lou, and figures to be a wide-open contest. In contrast, the pacing fillies, gathered in race eight, had five distaffs who posted two Stallion Series winners, including JK Mardi Says, who was victorious the only two times she entered the prelims.
Turning to the two-year-olds: the one hope that a Stallion Series horse would win in all four preliminaries, the pacing colt Captain Groovy, had that dream brought to a halt last time when he was beaten by a half-length. The Captain still figures as one of the sixth race favorites, along with the streaking Lake Charles, three-for-three in the prelims. Among that gait’s distaffs, in race four, the two standouts are Aplomp Hanover and Arden Hanover, both of whom won three preliminaries – and was beaten by the other in the fourth.
In the baby trotting races, Town Victor has three Stallion Series victories and 5-of-7 so far in his young career; he is likely to be favored over good youngsters Saxon and Stickler Hanover. The StS Championship for baby trotting fillies is race three, where five misses notched two preliminary wins, including three who won in both their prelim appearances: Heart N Soul Deo, Next Level Stuff, and Caviart Guilia.
The eight Stallion Series Championships will share the Monday spotlight at Pocono with the three $100,000 Great Northeast Open Series Championships for mare pacers, open trotters, and open pacers, in that order, all to be conducted at 1¼ miles. Horsemen with GNOS Championship entrants are reminded that there is a six-hour detention situation from scheduled post time, with post time for the first event, the mare pace, listed at 6:42 p.m. Contact the racing office for further information.
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Oct 25, 2017 | Racing
October 21-27, 2017
We are only about a month away from concluding the 2017 racing season at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. As a result, there will only be a few more editions of the Weekly Awards before we use the space in this column to wrap up the meet. The racing was quite spicy the past week, as the action shows no sign of letting up as we get nearer to Closing Night. Let’s see who takes the honors for the week that was at Pocono.
PACER OF THE WEEK: JJ FLYNN
Moving up the condition ladder is never an easy task. In the case of this four-year-old gelding trained by Josh Green, it seemed like it would be a monumental undertaking on Saturday night. Not only was JJ Flynn stepping up to face a $16,500 condition group after winning a notch below that in his previous race on October 14 in a career-best 1:50:1, he was also entering a field especially full of classy pacers, with Luck Be Withyou and his over $1.4 million in career earnings looming particularly large.
JJ Flynn left from post position #6 in a field of nine as the 9-2 second choice on the board. He sat mid-pack early on, while Luck Be Withyou, the 1-2 favorite, unsurprisingly set the pace. Had the favorite been able to get away with an uncontested journey, JJ Flynn might have been doomed. But a first-over challenge by Nimble And Quick kept Luck Be Withyou honest. JJ Flynn followed the cover of Nimble And Quick to get into striking position.
On the home stretch, JJ Flynn stepped wide of Nimble And Quick and zipped past him, but still had to get past Luck Be Withyou. Just a few yards before the finish line, it still seemed like the favorite would get home. But that’s when JJ Flynn, with Anthony Napolitano in the bike, surged and sped past to win it by a neck. His second straight victory was made even more memorable by the fact that he did it in 1:50, resetting his career mark.
Other top pacers this week include: Motor City Marco (John Kakaley, Travis Alexander) who once again won in the condition claiming ranks on Sunday, this time in 1:54:4 to give him four in a row; Montana Pablo A (George Napolitano Jr., Mark Kesmodel), who picked up his second straight claiming handicap win on Saturday night in 1:51:2; and Big N Bad (Jim Marohn Jr., Rob Harmon), whose victory on Monday night in a condition came in 1:49:2, the fastest time of both his career and the week at Pocono.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: CLASSICALITY
In order to beat the enemy, you have to properly identify it first. Classicality, a seven-year-old gelding trained by Lisa Dunn, has been making a lot of enemies himself lately. His last three starts: a win at The Meadows in 1:53:4 on September 7; a win at Pocono on September 24 in 1:53:2; and another win at The Meadows in 1:53:1 on October 11. And he wasn’t facing chopped liver either, going for $20,000 purses in each race, which is also the purse for which he competed on Sunday.
Classicality was the 5-2 second choice, however, as Centurion ATM, a stallion who had faced stakes competition for his past several starts, was made the favorite at even money. Centurion ATM also benefitted from a much better post position in the #3 hole, while Classicality was on the outside in the field of eight. Simeon set the pace, but Centurion ATM came stalking on the outside on the back stretch. Classicality, with Marcus Miller in the bike, knew whom he had to follow and quickly latched on to the favorite second-over.
Having identified his main enemy, Classicality was set to take him on. Centurion ATM took over the lead from Simeon, but it was short-lived. Classicality possessed more trot in the stretch and came up a winner by a neck in 1:53:2. That makes it four in a row for the gelding, which, considering the caliber of the competition he’s been facing, is quite an impressive streak.
Honorable mention on the trotting side this week goes to: Catch A Mission (Marcus Miller, Erv Miller), a mare who stayed perfect on the year with her third straight win, the last two of which have come at Pocono after a condition victory on Sunday night in 1:54:4; Silvermass Volo (Simon Allard, Michael Holcman), who churned his way to his second straight condition win on Sunday night and did so in a new career-best time of 1:54; and CR Blazin Beauty (Anthony Napolitano, Al Annunziata), a filly who has followed up an extended winning streak at smaller tracks in the Midwest with back-to-back victories at Pocono, the latest coming on Monday night in a condition trot in a career-best 1:55.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: WILD BILL M
In Saturday night’s final race, this condition pacer with Simon Allard in the bike overcame an outside post to pull off an upset at 60-1, paying off $131.40 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: TOM JACKSON
The steady veteran driver had an effective week at Pocono, putting up a driving double on Sunday and then scoring on Monday with 55-1 shot Sinspirational.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: DOUG HAMILTON
Hamilton enjoyed a race in honor of his retirement on Tuesday night, but first he made sure he put up one more win in the ledger when Pilgrims Tide scored a win on Sunday.
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 13, 2016 | Racing
The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Week in Review
September 10-16, 2016
The Stallion Series finals dominated the action in this abbreviated week of racing at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. On Sunday night there were four $40,000 finals held for three-year-olds, followed by four more finals for two-year-olds on Monday, again at $40,000 a pop. As the culmination of a summer’s worth of series racing, these finals put some outstanding young racing talent on display. Here are the results.
THREE-YEAR-OLD PACING FILLIES
Glidinthruparadise, coming in with seven straight first or second-place finishes for trainer Lisa Dunn, had anything but a glide in the final. She was parked out for the entire mile, and needed a three-wide move just to corral the pacesetter South Side Hanover late. Once Glidinthruparadise took the lead, it seemed like she might be vulnerable to some closers, but she held tight to the advantage with Brian Zendt in the bike and came home a winner in 1:54:3, which matched her career-best.
THREE-YEAR-OLD TROTTING COLTS AND GELDINGS
Iholdon was the 6-5 betting favorite and worked out the pocket trip in the final behind pacesetting Marty De Vie, who rated the pace very well. Normally a slow pace makes it difficult for a horse making a first-over move to do damage. But that’s exactly the course that Skeezix, a gelding trained by Roland Mallar, took on Sunday night. Driver Mike Simons had him moving like a champion in the stretch, and Skeezix prevailed by 1 ¾ lengths over Iholdon in 1:54:3, which equaled his lifetime best.
THREE-YEAR-OLD PACING COLTS AND GELDINGS
Despite not having won a race in 15 races this season and having the lowest amount of earnings of anyone in the field, Nimble And Quick went off as the 2-1 betting favorite in this group. And, sure enough, the gelding trained by Rich Ringler found himself in a nice pocket seat behind pacesetter Safensound Hanover. In the stretch, driver Matt Kakaley found room for Nimble And Quick in the passing lane, and he outpaced a host of closers to win by a half-length in a career-best 1:52.
THREE-YEAR-OLD PACING FILLIES
The most dominant performance of Sunday night was turned in by Terror At Night, a filly trained by Les Givens who went off at the medium price of 7-2. Driver Brett Miller aggressively sent her to the front around the first turn. From there she was pressured by a first-over move from Addy Girl, but she rebuffed that move with disdain and started opening up on the rest of the field as they turned for home. Terror At Night rolled home in front by 4 ¼ lengths in a career-best 1:50:4.
TWO-YEAR-OLD TROTTING FILLIES
As a 6-1 shot, Trixie Dust, a filly trained by Rich Gillock, was somewhat of an afterthought in this Monday final. She got off to a slow start, but a hot pace set the race up nicely for someone coming from off the pace. With David Miller in the bike, Trixie Dust picked up some live cover in EZ Passer, who took over the lead at the three-quarter pole. Trixie Dust then blew by that one and trotted away from the field in the stretch, winning by a comfortable 3 ½ lengths in a career-best 1:56:2.
TWO-YEAR-OLD TROTTING COLTS AND GELDINGS
Off of four consecutive victories, Backstage Pass was the odds-on favorite in this one, and he made the lead with a front-stretch swoop. But as soon as he took over the lead, Two AM took it away. No slouch himself at 2-1 with wins in three of previous five races, Two AM kept after it on the front end until Backstage Pass, unaccustomed to coming from behind, fell way back. With Andrew McCarthy driving for trainer Todd Buter, Two AM coasted home 4 ½ lengths in front in 1:55:2, a new career-best time.
TWO-YEAR-OLD PACING COLTS AND GELDINGS
Western Hill, a colt trained by Tony Alagna, came into the final on Monday night with three consecutive wins under his belt. In each of those victories, he didn’t take over the lead until the stretch. But he moved earlier in the final, as a back stretch brush earned him the lead. Driver Brett Miller made sure that Western Hill, the 6-5 favorite, stretched out the lead so that the pursuit couldn’t get there, and he glided home a two-length winner in 1:53 for four in a row.
TWO-YEAR-OLD PACING FILLIES
The last Stallion Series race of the season featured a stacked group of distaff pacers. It came down to a showdown between Emily R Hanover and Brazuca, as the pair locked up in a struggle that began on the back stretch and wasn’t decided until the second half of the home stretch. That’s when Brazuca, with Dave Palone doing the driving for trainer Thomas Cancelliere, finally wore down Emily R Hanover and picked up the victory as the 2-1 favorite by 1 ¼ lengths in 1:53:4.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at jbeviglia@mohegansunpocono.
