Jan 19, 2016 | Racing
Racing on four consecutive nights and a double-header on Kentucky Derby day are included in the 2016 live racing schedule for the Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, as announced by Vice-President of Racing Operations, Dale Rapson.
Racing opens at the renowned 5/8 mile oval in Wilkes Barre, PA on Saturday, March 19th, and will continue for the month of March on Tuesday, March 22, Sat., March 26, and Tuesday, March 29.
In April, racing moves to Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday, with Sunday, April 3rd the 1st leg of the Bobby Weiss Late Closing Series for 3 and 4 year olds, named for the beloved former Director of Track Maintenance. Bobby retired in 2011, and was responsible for the record-breaking track surface that is maintained today. The series continues throughout April with the finals on May 1st and 3rd. There will be no live racing on Monday, April 4th.
The prestigious Sun Stakes Saturday is set for Saturday, July 2nd, and will feature the Earl Beal, Jr. Memorial 3-year-old Trot; the James Lynch 3-year-old Filly Pace; the Max Hempt 3-year-old Colt & Gelding Pace; and the Ben Franklin Free For All Pace. Eliminations will take place on Saturday, June 25th
Saturday, August 20th is the $2.1 million Super Stakes Saturday with the Colonial 3YO Trot; Valley Forge 3YO Filly Pace; and the Battle of the Brandywine 3YO Open Pace.
The newly-created Pennsylvania Classics for 3YO PA-sired pacing colts & geldings will be held on Kentucky Derby Day, May 7th with eliminations the week before.
Also on the celebratory Kentucky Derby is a double-header with two Pocono live race cards. Post Time for the first card will be at 11 a.m., and the second will be immediately following the 142nd running of the Derby. In between, there will be the Run for the Roses Hat Review and a huge party on the track apron. Live racing will immediately follow the second and third legs of the Triple Crown, the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
The first Qualifiers of the season will be Tuesday, March 8th; Wednesday, March 9th; and Wednesday, March 16th.
Post Time for Sunday nights is 7:30p.m., with all other nights 6:30p.m. In September, October, and November, Monday night Post Time will switch to a 4:30p.m. Post. The 51st season of live racing concludes on Saturday, November 26th.
Jul 1, 2015 | Racing
Saturday, July 4th, the best of the best will land in Northeast PA for the $2,268,000 Sun Stakes Saturday supercard, featuring the $500,000 Championships for the Ben Franklin FFA pace, the Earl Beal Jr. three-year-old colt trot, and the Max C. Hempt three-year-old colt pace, and the $300,000 James Lynch Championship for three-year-old filly pacers. All four of these events have consolation events, and there are three other Invitationals/Opens on the monster card.
The day begins with a special Meet and Greet with former Buffalo Bills QB Jim Kelly on the Sky Bridge from 4:00-6:00pm. This is a wristband-only event, with wristbands being distributed at 1:00pm. Only authorized photos will be signed, and will be available at the signing.
Racing fans can pick up their souvenir Earl Beal Jr. Memorial hat at 8:00pm in the lower Grandstand bar, with a coupon from the live racing program. Programs are available starting at 5:00pm in the racing lobby.
Breyer Horses will be on hand for the official launch party of the release of the Foiled Again model, which will be for sale during the evening. A generous portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Standardbred Retirement Foundation, who will also be on hand with a table of information and other items for sale.
Representatives of the US Trotting Association and the Harness Racing Fan Zone will be available to meet up with fans during the evening.
Racing fans are encouraged to bring their appetites because there will be outstanding selections from food trucks What The Fork; Big Belly’s BBQ; Wandering Chef; Doc Popcorn; and Johnny Rockets.
Post Time for this tremendous night of racing gets underway at 6:30pm.
Jun 30, 2015 | 50th anniversary of racing, Breakers, Entertainment, Gaming, Holiday, Hot Summer Fun, Party on the Patio, Racing, Special Events, Terrace
Enjoy live music, thrilling gaming promotions, exhilarating horse racing and a celebrity appearance
WILKES-BARRE, PA (June 30, 2015) – It’s nearly time to celebrate Independence Day, and there’s no better way to spend the holiday than with Mohegan Sun Pocono! Join Mohegan Sun Pocono from Wednesday, July 1st through Sunday, July 5th for a fun-filled weekend, including live entertainment, exhilarating horse racing, a sizzling fireworks display and more.
The fun begins on Wednesday, July 1st when Mohegan Sun Pocono kicks off summer with their annual Hot Summer Fun celebration. This year is hotter than ever, with new chances to win every day through August 31st, including thousands in cash prizes, Free Slot Play, two cars, a VIP experience at all three luxurious Mohegan Sun properties and more! Full details on how to play every day can be found at mohegansunpocono.com/HSF.
Start your weekend on Thursday, July 2nd when Mohegan Sun Pocono kicks off NEPA’s version of the wildly successful TV show Lip Sync Battle. Kicking off at 6:00pm at Party on the Patio, six performances will heat up the stage. Local judges will narrow things down to the final two contestants and crowd feedback will determine the weekly winner, so bring your loudest friends and cheer on your favorite “singer!”
Parrotheads unite! At 7:30pm, Mohegan Sun Pocono welcomes ParrotBeach, a Jimmy Buffett tribute band, to Party on the Patio for a free concert*. Get ready to kick up your heels, grab a refreshing cocktail and sing along to your favorite tunes with thousands of other Parrotheads on the track apron. After the show, step inside to the After Party in Breakers and enjoy the music of Gas Station Disco, known for igniting dance floors with their high energy stage show.
Unwind and have a drink at the Terrace with live music from Eddie Appnel on Friday, July 3rd at 6:00pm and Battle of the Bands finalist Nowhere Slow on Saturday, July 4th at 6:00pm. Also on Friday and Saturday night, enjoy a fun night of laughs with Louis Ramey, Mike Spiers and Scott Bruce at Wise Crackers Comedy Club starting at 9:00pm, or dance to live entertainment at Bar Louie and Breakers at 9:30pm.
If it’s harness racing that you’re after, The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono is the place to be this weekend. Starting at 6:30pm on Friday, July 3rd, cheer for your favorite horse from the outdoor grandstand, or enjoy the outstanding view of the track and surrounding mountains while dining at Pacer’s Clubhouse. To commemorate 50 years of harness racing, grab a “Decades of the Downs” tee shirt starting at 8:00pm, then wear your shirt to The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono any Friday in July and get a $10.00 live racing voucher!
Get to The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono early on Saturday, July 4th, as former Buffalo Bills Quarterback Jim Kelly will be signing autographs and taking photos on the Sky Bridge from 4:00pm to 6:00pm. Kelly, known as the greatest quarterback in Buffalo Bills history, led his team to four consecutive Super Bowls and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in his first year of eligibility. Bracelets will be distributed starting at 1:00pm; only authorized photos will be signed and distributed at the event.
The $2 Million Sun Stakes Saturday Championship is set for Saturday, July 4th starting at 6:30pm, with the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial Trot, the Ben Franklin Free-For-All Pace, the Max Hempt Memorial Pace and the James Lynch Memorial Pace being contested on this prestigious night of harness racing. Then at 8:00pm, pick up your complimentary Earl Beal Jr. official hat in the Lower Grandstand.
Finally, on Sunday, July 5th, end your holiday weekend with a bang, with a fireworks extravaganza scheduled for approximately 9:30pm**. Free and open to all ages, the fireworks will immediately follow an action-packed night of harness racing which starts at 6:30pm.
For more information on happenings at Mohegan Sun Pocono over Independence Day weekend and beyond, visit their website.
Gambling problem? Call 1.800.GAMBLER.
*In inclement weather the ParrotBeach show may be moved indoors. ** Fireworks rain date is Monday, July 6th.
ABOUT MOHEGAN SUN POCONO:
Mohegan Sun Pocono, owned by the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut, is one of the most distinctive and spectacular entertainment, gaming, shopping and dining destinations in Pennsylvania. Situated on 400 acres in Plains, Pennsylvania, Mohegan Sun Pocono features a 238-room hotel with on-site spa and adjacent 20,000 square-foot Convention Center. It is currently home to 82,000 square feet of gaming space including 91 live table games, 2,300 slot machines and electronic table games, a variety of dining and shopping options, nightlife, entertainment and live harness racing. Mohegan Sun Pocono is within easy access of New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware. More information is available by calling 1.888.WIN.IN.PA (1.888.946.4672) or visiting our website. Connect with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, download our app and view us on YouTube.
Jun 26, 2015 | Racing
There will be a tremendous amount of great horses and great racing at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono between June 27th, Saturday’s, eliminations and next Saturday’s $1.8M worth of four Championships on Sun Stakes Saturday (July 4). But the stakes spotlight will not go dark in the four cards in between at the mountain oval, as Pennsylvania All-Stars action for two-year-olds will be featured on each of the four cards in between.
The Pennsylvania All-Stars, for state-sired horses, have traditionally been gathered in a 10-day period in proximity to the Fourth of July until this year, when the crowding of the stakes schedule suggested moving the 3YO events to May, to give eligibles some stakes competition before the Grand Circuit events got in high gear. The 2YO races are staying in their usual spot, which has been the introduction of many future stars to the sport in recent years. Trotting colts are featured on Sunday, June 28; pacing fillies two days after that; trotting fillies the next day; and then the pacing colts on Friday, July 3, as Pocono expands to a five-card-a-week schedule during summer’s “prime time.”
On June 28th, the trotting colts are divided into six divisions of a $180,000 event. There are already sixteen “winners” in the races, mostly in qualifiers/non-purse baby races, although one has won a pari-mutuel race and one a Fair Sire Stakes at Bloomsburg. Of these, seven already have winning lines timed in 2:00 or faster.
Two of the youngsters, the Donato Hanover colt Mr Right and the Cantab Hall gelding Alexander Hanover, have already taken a win in 1:57.3f. Mr Right earned his record in a June 12 non-purse baby event at Pocono for trainer Leigh Raymer, and was made the 2-5 favorite in a June 21 local overnight, but his uncovered move in that event was resisted by Alexander Hanover, who went wire-to-wire for trainer Bill Popfinger.
On June 30th, Tuesday, five divisions of freshman pacing fillies will answer the starter’s call in $150,000 worth of competition. 19 of these babies already have wins, again mostly in 2YO-restricted events, with 16 already having broken the 2:00 barrier.
The fastest of the group to date is the Somebeachsomewhere miss Pure Country, who took a Meadowlands qualifier in 1:54.4 – 26.4 for trainer Jimmy Takter, who is also rumored to be good with the occasional trotter. A daughter of Yankee Cruiser, Danika P, has won in pari-mutuel competition, a Meadows overnight in 1:55.4f for trainer Ron Burke. (Takter and Burke – together again.)
Jun 23, 2015 | Racing
Most of the stars in 2015’s early-season harness firmament will be gathered at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono this Saturday night, June 27th, with 3YO pacers of both sexes, 3YO trotting colts, and FFA pacers looking to earn spots in the $1.8M “Sun Stakes Saturday” Championship events of their divisional stakes a week from Saturday (July 4). Here’s an early look at each of the four groups of horses competing in this Saturday’s eliminations:
BEN FRANKLIN FREE-FOR-ALL PACE
(two $30,000 eliminations in races 7 and 9, with the top four plus fastest fifth-place horse returning for the $500,000 Championship)
The first Franklin elim is headed by the richest horse in the history of harness racing, Foiled Again, who will be leaving from the middle of the nine-horse field for trainer Ron Burke and driver Yannick Gingras. The evergreen 11YO went over $7M in career earnings in winning the Battle Of Lake Erie on June 12, and of course few will forget his 2013 Pocono campaign, winning the elimination and final of both the Franklin and the Breeders Crown, taking his lifetime mark of 1:48 in the Franklin elim.
The biggest threat to Foiled Again may be Domethatagain, who won the $529,000 Levy Final at Yonkers in April, and who produced a $60 shocker in the Franklin elims last year by nosing out Captaintreacherous over his “home track” of Pocono. Trained by Rene Allard, Domethatagain will start from post six, with Tim Tetrick the early listing for sulky duty, and he will coupled in the wagering with his Allard barnmate Big Boy Dreams (PP3, driver Brian Sears).
In the second Franklin elim, any number of angles could play out:
–There is the Ron Burke stable coupled entry of Clear Vision (PP4, Brett Miller) and Bettor’s Edge (PP6, Matt Kakaley), who between them have won over $3.85M in their careers;
–There are the last two Pennsylvania Horses of the Year for outstanding performances in Open overnights, Dynamic Youth (2013, PP7, Andrew McCarthy) and Dancin Yankee (2014, PP8, Brett Miller also listed);
–There is another sharp Rene Allard trainee, Bigtown Hero (PP2, brother Simon Allard driving), who has won three straight, and who had half of North America’s 1:20-or-less clockings to the ¾ last year, both of them here at Pocono;
–And there is State Treasurer, recent winner of the Gold Cup at Mohawk and the Molson Pace at London, but who will have to translate his Canadian form to local success after starting from the outermost post nine for driver David Miller.
EARL BEAL JR. 3YO COLT TROT
(three $25,000 eliminations in races 3, 5, and 12, with the top three coming back for the $500,000 Championship)
In the first Beal elim, Habitat (PP3, driver Jim Morrill Jr.) will look to be carrying on his fine 2015 form, with wins in the Dexter Cup and two New York Sire Stakes. Just to his right in the field of six will be Cruzado Dela Noche (David Miller), who was second, beaten only a half-length by Uncle Lasse in a 1:51.4 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes contest at The Meadows at the end of last month.
The second Beal cut will find the most attention on Pinkman (PP5 in a seven-horse field, Brett Miller), 2014 national champion and Breeders Crown winner, and undefeated in 2015, winning a Sire Stakes at each of three of Pennsylvania’s racetracks. Just for good measure, he’ll be coupled in the betting with his Jimmy Takter barnmate Whom Shall I Fear (PP4, Yannick Gingras), the full brother to Pastor Stephen and Father Patrick.
Also to be respected in this division are two recent double Sire Stakes winners, New Jersey’s Guess Whos Back (PP3, Brian Sears) and Pennsylvania’s Wicker Hanover (PP7, Andrew McCarthy).
In the third elimination of the Beal, the current Kings of New York (Crazy Wow) and Pennsylvania (Uncle Lasse) will clash. Crazy Wow (PP2, Yannick Gingras) comes off an open-length score in the Empire Breeders Classic at Vernon, and has shown the ability to repair a mistake with breathtaking speed. Uncle Lasse, saddled with the outside post six for driver Brett Miller, has been to many eyes nearly as impressive in the PA Sires as his Takter stablemate Pinkman, going 3 for 3 and with that 1:51.4 triumph at The Meadows.
MAX C. HEMPT 3YO COLT PACE
(three $25,000 eliminations in races 6, 8, and 10, with the top three coming back for the $500,000 Championship)
The first elim for “the glamour division” matches up last year’s divisional champion Artspeak and his closest 2014 challenger In The Arsenal. Artspeak, starting from post six for driver Scott Zeron, has had four good starts in 2015, although after winning his first two starts in NJSS competition, he “only” had a 2-5 slate in the North American Cup, but in both cases he did not have the easiest of trips. In The Arsenal had opened his year with four straight wins, including an NA Cup elim, before finishing fourth in the final; here he may have a slight positional advantage as he begins from post four in the field of nine, with Brian Sears listed to drive.
The middle Hempt heat has at its center (literally, as he begins from post five) the speedy Wiggle It Jiggleit. The colt had shown amazing speed in taking his lone start of 2014 and all 10 of his 2015 starts prior to the NA Cup Final, but cutting a searing pace of 25.1, 53.3, and 1:21 proved just a bit too much, although he held gamely to miss by only ¾ of a length to Wakizashi Hanover in a sterling 1:48.
Wakizashi Hanover, who will begin from post four in a field of eight for driver Tim Tetrick in the third elimination, had tipped his hand with a strong 4-3-1-0 opening to this year’s campaign in Pennsylvania, and then conquered all in Toronto, coming from behind to take his elim and then being a successful pocket rocket in the Final. He’ll face a major challenge here from Lost For Words (David Miller), undefeated in four 2015 starts and winning thrice in the Pa Sires; his challenges will be a three-week vacation and post seven.
JAMES LYNCH 3YO FILLY PACE
(three $20,000 eliminations in races 4, 11, and 13, with the top three coming back for the $300,000 Championship)
The first elim for the Lynch features the 2-3 finishers in the $100,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes Championship for this division, with Stacia Hanover, who missed a neck in finishing second, returning with first-time Lasix as she begins from PP6 in the seven-horse assemblage for driver Scott Zeron, while Wicked Little Minx (PP4, Brett Miller) was only a length from taking it all in the Jersey finale.
Wicked Little Minx is trained by Nancy Johansson, the daughter of Jimmy Takter, and Johansson also conditions the main horse of interest in the second elimination, JK She’salady (PP1 in a field of eight, Tim Tetrick). The “Lady” was undefeated in a 12-race campaign to become the first 2PF to be elected Harness Horse of the Year, but this race represents her first possible crossroads, since she comes off a
4-5 pair of starts in the Fan Hanover at Mohawk the last two weeks. Sassa Hanover (PP4, Yannick Gingras), a Fan Hanover elim winner, and The Show Returns (PP6, John Campbell), second in the Fan Hanover final, should provide challenging competition.
Two horses from the huge barn of Ron Burke, uncoupled in the betting because of separate ownership, will get their fair share of attention in the third Lynch elim. Southwind Roulette, named co-Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Horse of the Year in 2014, starts from post two for Matt Kakaley after two seconds and a third, beaten a total of 1¼ lengths, in recent Pennsylvania stakes competition, while Happiness (PP5 in the seven-horse field, Yannick Gingras), shows a New Jersey Sires win, and was fourth in the NJSS final.
The first race on the monstrous, in quality and quantity (16 races), Saturday card at Pocono is 6:30 p.m.
