Nov 2, 2012 | Racing
October 26-November 1, 2012
There were only three nights of racing this past week at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs due to Hurricane Sandy. Even with the smaller slate of racing, there were still plenty of fine performances, including a track record. That means that we have plenty of excellent choices for this edition of the Weekly Awards, and the horse that set the track record leads it off.
PACER OF THE WEEK: BET ON THE LAW
Track records are a great achievement at any point, but the ones that are set usually come in the warmer months of summer. That’s why the effort put forth by Bet On The Law was so exceptional on Saturday night. Not only did he have to overcome some outstanding condition pacers to set his record, but he also had to overcome the chilly temperatures.
The three-year-old gelding is the pride of the Joe Pavia Jr. barn, and Joe also drives him on a regular basis. As with most track records, it required some blistering early fractions, and Bet On The Law was in a perfect position to take advantage of those fractions when the time came. In the stretch, the gelding made a second move and surged past the competition.
When he rolled to the line in front of the rest of condition pacers in the field, the timer read 1:49:1. That bested the previous Pocono mark for 3-year-old geldings on the pace of 1:49:2, which was set earlier this season by Dynamic Youth. That’s quite the achievement for a horse that is in his first year of racing, as the gelding didn’t even race as a 2-year-old. Maybe that’s why the October weather didn’t bother him a bit, because he’s just getting in his groove with a very bright future ahead.
Other top pacers this week include: Special Dark (Matt Kakaley, Kent Sherman), who continued her domination of the $5,000 claiming mares on Friday night with her third straight win, this time coming in a career-best time of 1:53; Mustang Art (Tyler Buter, James McGuire), who rallied for a win on Saturday night in a condition pace in 1:49:1, which was a career-best time and matched the fastest of the week; and Miss Behave (Jim Morrill Jr., Ted Wing), a mare who rolled to her third straight claiming handicap win on Wednesday night in 1:54.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: SEVRUGA
The winners of over $25,000 condition trotting group has been one of the most fun to watch all season long at Pocono. It seems like no horse has been able to really dominate from week to week. We’ve seen horses step up in class for big wins in this group, and we’ve also seen other horses that are dropping down from higher groupings finding a home in the class.
Sevruga fits firmly into the latter category. The 4-year-old gelding from the Julie Miller barn has had an excellent season, but it was interrupted by a two month hiatus following a 4th place finish in stakes competition at Harrah’s in August. His first start back on October 20 at Pocono ended in a third-place finish in an Open Handicap trot on October 20, finishing behind superstar trotters Anders Bluestone and Arch Madness, which is no great shame.
On Saturday night, he was ready for a peak performance. Driver Pat Berry sent him to the front end early on from an outside post, and nobody was able to even threaten him from the point. Sevruga rolled to an easy win in 1:52:2, the fastest trotting time of the week at Pocono, and he seems fresh enough to move back up into even higher echelons of the trotting world.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Crystal Sizzler (Andrew McCarthy, Norman Morford), who beat a field of $7,500 claimers on Friday night in 1:56:4 for his second straight win and third in his last four; Tui (Anthony Napolitano, Donald Wiest), the mare who chalked up a big condition win on Saturday night in a season that’s been full of them for her, as she scored in 1:52:4; and Bloomfieldcantifly (Jim Morrill Jr., Bill Mullin), a filly who won Wednesday night’s featured condition trot in 1:56, a new career mark.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: SATIN SPIDER
Racing on Halloween, this spider spun his web with John Kakaley at 43-1 in a claiming pace, paying off $89.60 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: ANDREW MCCARTHY
No driver has been more adept at bringing in long shots at Pocono, and McCarthy’s driving double on Friday night included a 15-1 winner in My Cinnamon Girl.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: LINDA KAKALEY
There was a lot of balance in the training colony this week, with a lot of different trainers picking up single wins. That means that Linda’s 2-for-2 training double on Friday night really stands out.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
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].
May 26, 2012 | Racing
May 25, 2012
4-year-old mare Tui beat the boys in a $18,000 condition trot on Friday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs and set a world record for her age group in the process.
Racing in a condition for non-winner of $18,000 in the last five starts, Tui, the pride of the Don Wiest barn, left from post position #1 in a field of eight as the 3-2 favorite and burned right to the front end for driver Anthony Napolitano in 26:4. Even with outside pressure, the mare held the led easily to the half in 56 seconds even and to three-quarters in 1:23:3. In the stretch, the daughter of Windsong’s Legacy kicked away from her foes to win by 2 ¼ lengths. Ice Machine finished second and Man About Town picked up the show.
The winning time of 1:52:3 broke the track record of 1:53:1 set by Stage Show in 2009, which also stood as the world record for 4-year-old trotting mares on a 5/8-mile oval. Tui, owned by Wiest and Edward Kimmel, won for the 3rd time in 8 tries this year and picked up her 10 lifetime win, pushing her career earnings to $193,593.
