The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Week In Review

Mar 28, 2018 | Uncategorized

March 24-30, 2018
Since we’re up to three nights per racing week (soon to be four) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, we have enough material for our first Weekly Awards of the season. For those who might not have followed us in the past, every week I’ll parse through all of the excellent performances by the horses and horsemen and women competing at Pocono and write up the best of those in this little column. Always tough choices, but we’re certainly off to a great start with this week’s honorees.
PACER OF THE WEEK: GOOD LIVING
This 5-year-old stallion from the Tom Cancelliere barn started his racing year off on March 3 at The Meadowlands. It was only a fifth-place finish, but, considering Good Living went off from a #10 post and was more than 100-1 at the windows, it was certainly encouraging. When he came to Pocono on Opening Night, he was made the 3-5 favorite in a non-winners of six pacing group, and he delivered on that promise by scoring gate-to-wire in a career-best 1:50:3.
On Saturday night, Good Living faced a group of more experienced pacers in the $17,000 condition feature. Coming off the outstanding performance the week before, he was made the 6-5 favorite leaving from post position #3. Once again, he went after the early lead, but he faced a fight for it from Somewhere Fancy. Unwilling to settle for a covered-up trip, driver Anthony Napolitano asked Good Living for a burst of speed to retake the lead on the front stretch.
Such a move often leaves a horse vulnerable later in the race to tiring. And Good Living also had to deal with first-over pressure from Ideal Cowboy, meaning that it was no easy lead. Yet he still looked sharp in the stretch, holding of Somewhere Fancy’s second move to win it by three parts of a length. It was another solid winning time of 1:50:4, proving that this stallion could be ready for the finest season of his career in 2018.
Other top pacers this week include: Feeling Cam Lucky (George Napolitano Jr., Gilberto Garcia-Herrera), who tore it up in a condition pace on Saturday night for a victory in 1:50:2, a new career-best and the fastest time of the young season to date at Pocono; Dancingwithdelight (Anthony Napolitano, Ron Burke), who went to two-for-two on the meet by moving up in class to beat the $10,000 claimers on Saturday in 1:54:2; and Walks Of Life (Pat Berry, Vincent Fusco Jr.), whose victory in a claiming handicap on Saturday in 1:53:3 gave him two straight at Pocono and seven wins in ten races so far this year.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: TRUSTWORTHY KID
One of the most difficult things about handicapping is knowing how much to believe in results accomplished at tracks different from the one at which it is currently competing. A horse might perform completely different when dealing with separate surfaces, drivers, track sizes, and levels of competition as opposed to when it ships in. This little preface is my way of making an excuse (probably a poor one) for listing Trustworthy Kid, a nine-year-old gelding trained by Lisa Dunn, at 10-1 morning line odds in a $14,000 condition trot on Saturday night.
He was coming off a front-trotting victory in 1:54:1 at Northfield, a half-mile oval in Ohio where the times tend to be significantly slower than at Pocono. Yet I was skeptical about the caliber of horses that he had faced compared to what he would be going against at Pocono on Saturday night. The Pocono faithful were much more assured of his bona fides, however, making him an even-money favorite. Leaving from post position #2, Trustworthy Kid strode confidently to the lead with the confidence of a favorite.
Even though he wasn’t able to completely separate from his pursuit, Trustworthy Kid, under the guidance of driver Marcus Miller, held strong on the lead and fought off a late charge by Panamanian Hanover to win by a half-length. His winning time of 1:54:1 matched what he did at Northfield and also matched the fastest trotting time of the week at Pocono. I, for one, will trust this Trustworthy Kid the next time he lines up at the gate.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Home’N Dry (Jim Morrill Jr., Ron Burke), whose victory in a $17,000 condition trot on Saturday night in 1:54:1 matched the week’s fastest trotting time at Pocono; Queen’s Lonely Earl (Marcus Miller, Bruce Clarke), a top performer at Pocono a year ago who returned on Sunday night for a claiming handicap win in 1:55:2; and Danish Design (Anthony Napolitano, Tom Shay), who followed a streak of four wins in five races at Northfield with a Pocono condition victory on Tuesday night in 1:57:1 on an off-track.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS
Sporting a great name for a long shot, this trotter driver by Jim Taggart Jr. surprised a condition field on Sunday night for his maiden win at 22-1, paying off $47 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: ANTHONY NAPOLITANO
A-Nap has grabbed possession of the driving victories lead early in the season by following up a great first week with more of the same on Saturday night, chalking up five victories.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: RON BURKE
The Burke barn figures to be a major player all year long at Pocono, even into the Breeders Crown, and it got off to a stellar start with a hot first week and four wins on Saturday night.
That will do it for this week, but I’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].

Richest Standardbred Foiled Again honored with a Breyer Model; Launch party at the Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono

Jun 16, 2015 | Racing

He was named after a cartoon character’s catchphrase, but harness racing world champion Foiled Again has been nothing but serious when it comes to making money. The 11-year-old pacer is the richest Standardbred in history, with purse earnings of $7.01 million following his win last Friday in the Battle of Lake Erie at Northfield Park. With the victory, Foiled Again also became the race’s first three-time champion.
And now this model of consistency on the racetrack has become a real model. Breyer has joined countless fans amazed by Foiled Again’s ability to compete successfully at the sport’s highest level year after year and is honoring the ageless wonder with a portrait model created in his likeness.
Most harness racing horses earn the bulk of their lifetime money at ages 2 and 3 – the years during which the greatest number of lucrative stakes are offered – but Foiled Again has defied convention, banking more than $5.8 million after turning age 6. In fact, his earnings during that span alone outdistance the next richest pacer in history by more than $1 million. He is the only harness racing horse to compete solely in North America and earn more than $1 million for three consecutive years, a feat he accomplished from 2011 through 2013.
In 2011, at the age of 7, Foiled Again was named the Dan Patch Award Pacer of the Year by the U.S. Harness Writers’ Association. He is the only pacer older than the age of 4 ever to receive the honor. In 2013, at the age of 9, he won the Breeders Crown Pace to become the oldest Standardbred to win a Breeders Crown event. In addition to his victory in the Breeders Crown, Foiled Again during his career has won many of the sport’s top stakes for older pacers, including the Canadian Pacing Derby, Ben Franklin Pace, TVG Free For All Series Championship, George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series, Bobby Quillen Memorial, and Molson Pace.
The bay gelding also holds the record for most miles in 1:55 or faster and at the age of 9 equaled the world record for the fastest mile ever by an older pacer on a five-eighths of a mile racetrack, winning in 1:48 at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
Born on May 8, 2004 in central New Jersey, Foiled Again is a son of stallion Dragon Again. He was named by breeder Barbara Matthews, who recalled her daughter watching Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons and hearing villain Snidely Whiplash often exclaim, “Curses, foiled again!”
Foiled Again has been driven throughout the majority of his career by Yannick Gingras and trained by Ron Burke. He is owned by the Burke Racing Stable, Mark Weaver and Mike Bruscemi, and the JJK Stables group of Joseph Koury, Joseph Koury, Jr. and Kevin Koury.
Weaver once said he hoped to someday find another horse like Foiled Again, but knows the odds are against it.  “It’s like saying you want to find the next Michael Jordan,” Weaver said. “It’s sort of unreasonable.”
Breyer’s Foiled Again Traditional model is available now from Breyer retailers everywhere.
A “launch party” for the Foiled Again Breyer Model will take place on Sat., July 4 at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, the scene of his historic Breeders Crown triumph.  Foiled Again is scheduled to race in the Ben Franklin Free For All Pace, one of four feature races on the $2 million Sun Stakes race card.
About Breyer Animal Creations®
For horse-crazy girls, there are only two kinds of horses: real horses and Breyer model horses. The iconic Breyer brand, a division of Reeves International, was founded in 1950, and is the leader in creating the world’s most authentic and realistic model horses for play and collecting. These hand-painted, collectable model horses and animals have a worldwide following, thanks to the incredible sculptures that form the foundation of the line. Today, Breyer has expanded its play lines to include play sets, craft activities and horsey accessories for its younger fans and its collector lines to include resins, crystal and porcelain. To see the complete line of Breyer horses, and to learn more about Breyer events and the model horse hobby, visit us at BreyerHorses.com!
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