Sep 29, 2011 | Racing
One of the most fun parts of witnessing all the racing action at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs the past few seasons has been all of the superstar horses who have made their way to the track to show off their skills. This week we were blessed with a few of harness racing’s elite, and not only did they fulfill expectations, they left us slack-jawed in awe at their stunning performances. Needless to say, those horses highlight the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: WE WILL SEE
One of the finest pacers in the country, We Will See came in to Saturday night’s $50,000 pace with over $1 million already in his 2011 bank account. He has been absolutely dominant in the Open class at Chester this season, and, in his previous start, put together a monster effort in winning the Canadian Derby at Mohawk in Canada. Ironically, he was 0-for-4 at Pocono in his career coming into Saturday, but the star of the Sam DePinto barn changed all that in a huge way.
In an Open filled with top-flight horses, driver Ron Pierce settled We Will See in the third position early, allowing Bettor Sweet to set some nasty fractions. Pierce then cut the 4-year-old stallion loose on the back stretch, and he corralled Bettor Sweet around the final turn. The stretch run proved to be dramatic, as Dial Or Nodial, who was sitting in the pocket, tipped out to make his charge.
As a result, We Will See had to go all out in the stretch, and he came home a winner by three-quarters of a length. One look at the timer showed just how special a mile this was, as the winning time of 1:48 was the fastest ever paced in the history of the Pocono oval. In addition, he matched the world record for fastest time on a 5/8-mile oval as he closed in on $2 million in lifetime earnings.
Honorable mention on the pacing side goes to: So Easy Baby (Andrew McCarthy, Erv Miller), who highlighted the Equinox Late Closer series for 2-year-olds on Thursday afternoon by beating a group of fillies in 1:54:1 for her second straight win at Pocono; Malicious (Dan Dube, Mark Ford), who followed up an Open win at Saratoga with a condition win on Saturday night in a career-best 1:50:1; and B Lo Zero (Matt Romano driver and trainer), who rallied in the slop on Tuesday night for his third claiming handicap win, this one coming in 1:52:1.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: LUCKY JIM
You don’t get much more accomplished than this 6-year-old gelding from the Erv Miller barn. In 2009, he won 17 of 18 starts, ending the season with a Breeders Crown championship. He’s been adding to that record ever since, pushing his career earnings past $1.8 million. But one hiccup came in the 2010 Breeders Crown Open trot at Pocono, when his attempt to repeat as champ ended quickly when he went off-stride.
Friday night’s $50,000 Open trot offered him an opportunity for some redemption, as he faced off with a fantastic field that featured another Breeders Crown champ, the mare Buck I St Pat. In sloppy conditions, Lucky Jim, with Andy Miller doing the driving, watched as Lolique gunned out to the lead and set ridiculously fast fractions in the off-going.
While the rest of the field faded, Lucky Jim came roaring up on the outside. Lolique put up a fight, and would have beaten just about every other trotter in the country with his performance, but he couldn’t hold back Lucky Jim. The stunning winning time of 1:51:4 was one of the fastest trotting efforts in track history, made all the more amazing by the fact that it took place in the slop.
Other top trotters this week include: Sand Top Gun (Andrew McCarthy, Tyler Raymer), who stepped up in class on Friday night and captured a condition trot in 1:55:2; Di Manggio (Tyler Buter, Jim Raymer), who jumped a few classes and still ripped off this third straight condition win on Friday night, this one coming in a career-best 1:54:1 in the slop; and Cora Louise (Tyler Buter, Hermann Heitmann), a filly who picked up her second straight condition win on Friday in a time of 1:57:3, a new career-best.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: ALL SHUTTLE
With Tyler Buter in the bike, this gelding stormed first-over to a victory on Saturday night in a $12,500 claiming pace at 24-1, paying off a hefty $51.60 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: ANDREW MCCARTHY
McCarthy had a rock-solid week with multiple wins on several nights, and he was the star of the Equinox Late Closer series on Thursday afternoon, picking up three victories.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: SARITA MOSHER
The Mosher barn had one of its best weeks of the season, achieving a training double on Saturday and then adding single wins on Tuesday and Wednesday.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Sep 22, 2011 | Racing
Since there were just two nights of racing last week at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs due to the wildly successful Oktoberfest celebration at the track, there wasn’t really enough action to merit a full-out Weekly Awards this time around. We’ll get back to that next week since we’ll have five racing cards to describe, as there will be Thursday afternoon races on tap in addition to our normal nights of Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
Without the Weekly Awards taking up space, it gives me the opportunity to celebrate our amazing driving colony at Pocono. Normally, we name a Driver of the Week, but one name per week hardly tells the tale of the amazing driving talent we at MSPD have witnessed each and every night. In 2011, more than ever, it is a balanced group featuring both established superstars and up-and-coming youngsters who can more than hold their own.
Some statistics can shed some light on all of this. Over 80 different drivers have earned at least one win this season at Pocono. Of those, 26 have earned at least 10 wins. That’s a far cry from in years past, when there was a steady group of 10 or 15 drivers who competed against each other every night. The high purses and great racing amenities have drawn some of the biggest names in the sport to Northeastern Pennsylvania.
For example, guys like Ron Pierce, Brian Sears, David Miller, Andy Miller, and John Campbell only showed up at Pocono in past seasons when there were huge stakes races on tap. This season, we’ve seen them on a semi-regular basis, often in the middle of the week battling it out in overnight racing. In addition, Dave Palone, the great champion headquartered at The Meadows, has been here often enough to hit the MSPD Top 10 in drivers wins, while Tim Tetrick, who was once Pocono’s leading driver, has been back often this year to wield his magic.
With all of those big names, you might think that some of the Pocono regulars have been muscled out of the winner’s circle. In actuality, guys like Mike Simons, Larry Stalbaum, Jim Taggart Jr., Matt Romano, David Ingraham, and Howard Parker have stepped up their games to stay competitive all season long.
Of our regulars, George Napolitano Jr. and Joe Pavia Jr., two of the most familiar faces and most successful drivers in Pocono history, have been particularly fine this year. Despite getting a late start to the season and then missing time with an injury, George Nap has been perched in the #2 spot in wins for much of the year. Pavia, one of dying breed of double-threat horsemen, has pulled off the impressive feat of being in the Top 5 in driving wins and in the Top 10 in training victories.
All of those guys we’ve mentioned already are well established and have been around the game for a while. In the past, younger drivers would have to pay their dues and usually took their lumps at tracks the caliber of Pocono. But one of the most refreshing changes in harness racing in recent years has been the influx of younger drivers who can compete at the highest level almost with no apprenticeship whatsoever.
Consider the fact that our most hallowed stakes race, the Max Hempt Memorial Pace, was won by a horse driven by 21-year-old Montrell Teague. Andrew McCarthy and Anthony Napolitano, both under the age of 30, are both headed for over 100 wins at Pocono on the season. Tyler Buter, a 25-year-old newcomer to the racing scene at MSPD, has already eclipsed that 100-win plateau and sits a solid 3rd in the drivers’ standings.
Of all the youngsters to make an impact this season though, none can match the performance of Matt Kakaley. Just 23 years old and in only his second season at Pocono, Kakaley fired out of the gate early in the season and hasn’t ever looked back. Barring some unexpected turn of events, Matt will earn the driving championship this season, which, considering the caliber of his driving competition at Pocono, is an outstanding accomplishment.
The names mentioned here only scratch the surface of the driving excellence on display in 2011, but we’ve only got so much room. Suffice it to say that the days where you could look at a Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs racing program and pick out one or two drivers who would dominate the card are long gone. Call it a balance of power, or simply call it the finest group of drivers that we have ever had.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Sep 16, 2011 | Racing
Last season at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, we were fortunate enough to host the Breeders Crown, harness racing’s year-end championships featuring practically every top horse in the country. After it ended, there was a general feeling that such a historic night of racing at Pocono might be a long time coming.
Less than a year later, we were at it again. Saturday night, September 10 was always scheduled to be the biggest night of the 2011 season, with four $200,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes events on tap to crown the best 2-year-olds in the state. But a few days before, the night took on even bigger proportions when it was announced that Pocono would host The Cane Pace, the first leg of harness racings’ pacing Triple Crown for 3-year-olds, as a result of flooding problems at Tioga Downs. Just like that, we had a 19-race card full of high stakes and harness racing superstars of the human and equine variety. Basically, it was yet another gigantic night of racing.
In addition to the Cane, we also hosted two divisions of the Shady Daisy, a top event for 3-yeara-old pacing fillies also originally scheduled at Tioga. These two races were schedu
