The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Week In Review

Jul 19, 2018 | Racing

July 14-20, 2018

It was another busy week of stakes action at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, with Pennsylvania Sire Stakes, Pennsylvania All-Stars, and Stallion Series racing all holding court. Our two top horses this week, however, battled for the honors on Monday night, which featured nothing but overnight racing. It just goes to show you that every night is witness to something special at Pocono, as this edition of the Weekly Awards makes plain.

PACER OF THE WEEK: FUTURE LIFE

Sometimes a winning streak is only as impressive as whom you beat. In the case of Future Life, she came into a $15,000-$20,000 claiming handicap pace for mares on Monday night having picked up a victory in her previous race against lower claiming competition. The nine-year-old mare trained by Andrew Adamczyk had churned out a come-from-behind win on July 9 in 1:53.0. But the field that she faced on Monday night included five of eight horses who had won their previous start, including Unbeamlievable, who had been the dominant force in the division.

Future Life started from post position #2 in a field of eight at long odds of 16-1, likely because of the move up in class. As a horse who doesn’t mind coming from off the pace, driver Tyler Buter kept her out of the early battle for the lead, which was eventually won by Unbeamlievable. The mare began her journey on the back stretch by making a third-over move, meaning that she had a lot of traffic to overcome on her way to the front.

In the stretch, Buter tipped Future Life out four-wide to get a clear look at Unbeamlievable, who was still battling away on the front end. The momentum that Future Life gathered proved too much for the favorite, as she blew by to win it by a half-length in 1:53.4. That gives the mare five wins on the year and two in a row, and in neither of the last two races was she favored. She’ll probably get more betting attention next time around.

Other top pacers this week include: De Los Cielos Deo (Dave Palone, Ron Burke), a two-year-old colt who moved to two-for-two in his young career with a Pennsylvania All-Stars victory on Saturday night in 1:52.4; Ginger Tree Cash (George Napolitano Jr., Robert Bath), who moved up in condition to win his second straight on Saturday, this one in 1:52.0; and Warrawee UBeaut (Yannick Gingras, Ron Burke), who captured the second straight win to start her career on Tuesday night and did so in 1:52.1, the fastest time of four divisions of the Pennsylvania All-Stars for two-year-old pacing fillies.

TROTTER OF THE WEEK: PAT MATTERS

This three-year-old filly trained by Paul Kelley didn’t race as a freshman. At the start of her career this year, she had issues staying flat in her races, which was odd because of how sharp she was in qualifiers. On June 24, she finally found her form under the lights, picking up her maiden victory in 1:59.2 on a sloppy track. Pat Matters followed that up with an impressive second place finish on July 2, with only an extremely fast mile from Urban Legend beating her.

On Monday night, Pat Matters took on a group of non-winners of two trotting fillies and mares as a 4-5 favorite. It was a pretty solid field she faced in this one, including several horses that were coming off sharp efforts in Stallion Series races. Leaving from post position #5 in a field of nine, the filly fired early to the front end. Driver Matt Kakaley then chose to stay in the pocket with Pat Matters when Strength Of A Woman made a play for the lead on the front stretch.

Strength Of A Woman and Pat Matters stayed one-two in the order for most of the mile until the home stretch rolled around. That’s when Kakaley asked for more from Pat Matters, who immediately swooped on by to pick up the victory by two lengths in a new career mark of 1:56.1. The filly seems to have put those breaking problems well behind her, which means that she could be ready for more rugged competition in the near future.

Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Crosbys Clam Bake (Pat Berry, Randy Bendis), who scored a condition victory in the slop on Saturday night in 1:55.4; Homicide Hunter (George Napolitano Jr., Chris Oakes), who continued his dominance in the Great Northeast Open Series on Sunday night with a win in 1:52.2, his fourth consecutive victory; and Magic Vacation (John Kakaley, Travis Alexander), who handled a condition field on Sunday night in a career-best 1:54.2.

LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: PYRO

Even stakes races can provide long shot winners, as this two-year-old colt driven by Pat Berry proved when he scored a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes win on Saturday at 29-1, paying off $60.20 on a $2 win ticket.

DRIVER OF THE WEEK: COREY CALLAHAN

Callahan had a big night on Sunday during the Stallion series for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings, winning three of the six divisions.

TRAINER OF THE WEEK: BRIAN BROWN

Brown always seems to make his presence felt come stakes time, and he did it again on Saturday night by sending out two winners in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action for two-year-old male pacers.

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].

 

 

 

Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs Week in Review

Sep 12, 2012 | Racing

September 7-13, 2012
Even with only three nights of racing at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in the past week, we still had more than enough candidates to fill out the Weekly Awards. Give credit to the impressive group of pacers and trotters we have on the grounds that have made not just this week at Pocono, but all of 2012, a destination for some of the finest racing in the country.
PACER OF THE WEEK: FOILED AGAIN
In Saturday night’s $50,000 Open pace, the seven horses in the field came into the race with earnings of around $12,000,000. Leading that pack of big earners was Foiled Again, an 8-year-old gelding who came into the race with $4.3 million in the bank. Even with that fact, and even considering he won a huge stakes at Mohawk in his last race, the pride of the Ron Burke barn was still the 2-1 third choice behind favorite We Will See and second choice Bettor Sweet, both superstars in their own right.
Leaving from the outside post in the field, driver Matt Kakaley decided to play it conservative with Folied Again, settling him toward the back of the pack as nasty fractions were set on the sloppy track. It wasn’t until the back stretch when horse and driver made their move, and they got a little racing truck when Rockincam stepped out in front of them to give them a bit of cover.
In the stretch, Kakaley had Folied Again out on the wide side with a clear path and only Bettor Sweet standing in his way. The two standouts battled through the lane, but when the dust cleared, Foiled Again was the one who came out in front, just like he had 63 times before in other career victories. His winning time of 1:49:1 was the fastest of the week despite it being achieved in the slop.
Other top pacers this week include: Mr Govianni Fra (Brandon Simpson, Ken Rucker), whose condition win on Friday night in 1:53:1 was his third straight, which is even more notable considering that winning streak immediately followed up 35 straight losses to start his career; Woodmere Ultimate (George Napolitano Jr., PJ Fraley), who rolled to his second straight $25,000 claiming win on Saturday night, this one coming in 1:51:2; and Feeling You (Tyler Buter, Amber Buter), a newcomer to Pocono who captured Tuesday night’s Open pace foe mares in a career-best 1:49:3, just missing a track record in the process.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: ROSE RUN HOOLIGAN
The winners of over $25,000 lifetime condition is the very best condition grouping at Pocono and often serves as the featured trot for the week, as it did on Saturday night. That means that any horse that conquers that group must not only be pretty talented but it also must be at the top of its game.
Rose Run Hooligan is a 9-year-old stallion who has been at the top of his game for an impressively long amount of time, hence his career earnings which are sneaking up toward the $1 million mark. On Saturday night, the veteran was overlooked at the window at 6-1 despite the fact that we was coming off a win in Canada.
Driver David Miller drove Rose Run Hooligan like he was a prohibitive favorite, however, and the stallion responded. He took the lead early on and was still there at the end to win by 1 ¾ lengths in a slop-defying time of 1:53:1, the fastest trotting time at Pocono this week. At an age when most horses are slowing down or packing it in, this star from the Rene Allard barn seems to be peaking.
Honorable mention on the trotting side this week goes to: Spit N Shine (Joe Pavia Jr., Chris Oakes), who romped to his third straight claiming win on Tuesday night, this one coming in 1:56:2; Grace N Charlie (Anthony Napolitano, James Siegelman), a mare who scored her  second straight claiming victory on Tuesday night in 1:57:2; and Speculation (Tom Jackson, Robert Bath), who followed up a win at Harrah’s with an upset victory in a rugged condition group on Saturday night in 1:54:1.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: CAROLSTERN
With a swooping late move, this mare driven by David Ingraham upended a group of younger distaff pacers on Friday night at 35-1, paying off $72 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: DAVID MILLER
Miller always makes an impact when he comes around, as he did on Saturday night, topping all drivers on the card with four victories on the evening.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: PJ FRALEY
Fraley has been a major player at Pocono all season long at Pocono, and this week was no different thanks to a training double on Saturday night.
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].