Sep 6, 2013 | Racing
August 30-September 5, 2013
August may be in the rear-view mirror, but it went out with a bang at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. A track record fell on Friday night and a world record went by the books on Saturday night. It was quite a week of racing, and it’s no surprise that those two record-setters end up with the most honored positions in this edition of the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: LIGHTNING PAIGE
If anyone seemed poised to break a record in Friday night’s $21,000 featured pace for mares who were non-winners of $24,000 in the last five races, Southwind Jazmin was the one. In the very same class a week earlier, the 5-year-old mare completely dominated with a two-length win in 1:49:3, and the margin and time could have been more impressive had she been kept to task. It’s no wonder that she was the 2-5 favorite at race time.
One of the horses that she beat the previous start was Lightning Paige, a 4-year-old mare from the Steve Elliott barn. She was a non-threatening third in that race, and she found herself in the pocket chasing the heavy favorite throughout the race. Even with fast fractions, it seemed like the only thing up for debate was whether or not Southwind Jazmin would challenge a track record.
Yet Lightning Paige had other ideas. Driver Andrew McCarthy urged her on through the stretch as she blitzed by the favorite to win by a neck. To add insult to injury, Lightning Paige’s winning time of 1:49 even broke the track record for 4-year-old pacing mares. The previous mark of 1:49:2 was held by, you guessed it, Southwind Jazmin, who set it a year ago. That’s what you call a double whammy. Here’s hoping these two star distaffers face off again in an exciting budding rivalry.
Other top pacers this week include: Caviart Spencer (George Napolitano Jr., Eddie Sager), whose victory on Friday night over the $7,500 claimers gave him three straight victories and came in a career-best 1:52; Light Up The Sky (George Napolitano Jr., Marty Fine), who switched barns and still came up with his second straight win against the toughest claimers on the grounds Saturday night, this one in a career mark of 1:49; and Mustang Art (Kevin Wallis, James McGuire), a veteran pacer who put on a show on the front end on Saturday night with a mile of 1:48:3, best of his career and fastest this week at Pocono.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: BEATGOESON HANOVER
One of my little rules for writing this column is that I try to spread the wealth around in giving these awards. When a horse wins Pacer or Trotter of the Week once during a season, I usually disqualify them from winning it again. For Beatgoeson Hanover, I broke the rules, simply because it’s unusual for a horse to crash the record books twice in the same season.
Back in April, Beatgoeson Hanover, a five-year-old mare trained by Nifty Norman, matched a track record for aged trotting mares with a scintillating victory in 1:52:1. Yet on Saturday night in a Preferred trot with a $25,000 purse, Beatgoeson Hanover could only go off as a 3-1 second choice, because DW’s NY Yank, who also set a track record at Pocono earlier this season as a 4-year-old gelding, was the heavy favorite. Beatgoeson Hanover sat the pocket trip behind the favorite, who surprisingly caved in at the top of the stretch under pressure from the first-over move from Real Babe.
Driver Tyler Buter made a nifty move by swinging Beatgoeson Hanover out wide to elude her tiring cover and gather momentum for a rally. The mare did the rest, zipping by Real Babe to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:51:4. Not only did that reset her track mark, but it also set the world record for aged mares trotting on a five-eighths-mile oval. Maybe we bent the rules a little bit by handing out this award, but that performance was worth it.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Must Be Psychic (Anthony Napolitano, Scott Osterhout), who won his second straight claimer on Tuesday night, this one coming in a career-best 1:55:1 despite a move up in class; Hoorayforvacation (Matt Kakaley, Ron Burke), who scored a victory in Tuesday night’s featured claiming handicap trot in a career-best 1:53:4; and Raven De Vie (Matt Kakaley, Chris Ryder), who followed up his maiden win with another condition victory on Wednesday night in 1:56:1.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: WEST RIVER VICTORY
On Tuesday night with Mike Simons doing the driving, this trotter utilized a pcoket trip to rally for a victory over a $12,500 claiming class at 17-1 for a $37 win payout on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: ANDREW MCCARTHY
McCarthy gets a lot of acclaim at Pocono for his ability to bring in long shots, but this week he was winning with every kind of horse, as evidenced by multiple driving victories on all four racing nights.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: MARTY FINE
Part of the Canadian invasion of horsemen who have really made their mark on the 2013 season at Pocono, Fine stayed hot with a three-win week, including a double on Saturday.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Aug 1, 2012 | Racing
July 31, 2012
Southwind Jazmin set a track record and matched a world record for 4-year-old pacing mares on a 5/8-mile oval with her victory in 1:49:2 in the featured pace on Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The race, a condition pace for mares who were non-winners of $30,000 in their last five starts, carried the night’s top purse of $21,000.
Leaving from post position #5 in a field of seven as the 3-5 favorite, Southwind Jazmin (Art Major-Juliet’s Fate) settled sixth early as Caviart Sarah cut out the opening quarter in 26:2. Driver Joe Pavia Jr. sent the favorite to the outside in the front stretch and she made the lead at the half in 54:3. From there, she extended the lead with a blistering back stretch that had her at three-quarters in 1:21.
In the stretch, Southwind Jazmin, owned by Rick Phillips and trained by Mark Harder, was never threatened and opened up to win by 6 ½ lengths over Jamaica Hanover. Caviart Sarah finished 3rd. The winning time of 1:49:2 broke the four-year-old Pocono track record of 1:49:3 set by U All BB in 2008. It also matched the 4-year-old mare world record of 1:49:2, held by Makerbark and Higher And Higher.
Southwind Jazmin won for the second time in 12 tries this year. It was her 13th career victory and her lifetime earnings now stand at $423,573.
Jun 20, 2012 | Racing
June 19, 2012
Billmar Scooter used a pocket trip and the passing lane to capture the featured mares pace of the week for a second consecutive time on Tuesday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The race, which was contested by mares who are winners of over $25,000 lifetime, carried the night’s top purse of $25,000.
Leaving from post position #4 in a field of seven as the 8-5 favorite, Billmar Scooter, a 7-year-old mare from the barn of Amber Buter with Tyler Buter in the bike, left early and settled in the pocket while Dawn’s Legacy jumped to the early lead. That’s where Billmar Scooter stayed until the stretch, when she used the inside passing lane to score for the second straight week, this time coming by two lengths in 1:50:2. Southwind Jazmin was second while Mud Pie Hanover rallied for the show.
Billmar Scooter, sired by Keystone Raider, now has won four out of six in this class since arriving at Pocono. She has 7 wins in 18 races this year and 28 lifetime victories, giving him career earnings of $491,611.
Jun 13, 2012 | Racing
June 12, 2012
Billmar Scooter exploded through the inside passing lane in the stretch to win a thrilling featured pace for mares on Tuesday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The race, which was a condition for mares who are winners of over $25,000 lifetime, carried the night’s top purse of $25,000.
Leaving from post position #5 in a field of eight as the 5-1 second choice, Billmar Scooter, a 7-year-old mare trained by Amber Buter and driven by Tyler Buter, sat in the pocket early behind pacesetter Lighting Treasure but seemed to be boxed in when Southwind Jazmin cleared for the lead before the half-mile. Billmar Scooter got a break when the outside flow faded and Lightning Treasure took to the outside in the stretch. That left the inside passing lane for the daughter of Keystone Raider to exploit, and she shot by Southwind Jazmin at the wire to win by a nose in 1:50:3 on a sloppy track. Lightning Treasure settled for the show.
Billmar Scooter won for the 6th time in 17 races in 2012, including three out of five since arriving at Pocono in May. It was her 27th career victory, pushing her lifetime earnings to $479,111.
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].
