The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Week in Review

September 7-13, 2019

Normally we would devote this space to the Weekly Awards. But we’re going to take a break this week to detail all of the action from an afternoon an early evening of stakes competition at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. Not only were the $40,000 finals of the Stallion Series held for both two and three-year-old horses, but the $100,000 finals of the Great Northeast Open Series took place.

All totaled, there were 11 stakes races on the 14-race program. Here are the results:

STALLION SERIES 2-YEAR-OLD FILLY TROT

When the 4-5 favorite Next Level Stuff made a break on the first turn, somebody had to step up in this class. Miss Wilia, a 9-1 shot leaving from post #8 in the nine-horse field, did just that. She led gate-to-wire, holding off late charges from Caviart Guilia and Madame Sherry to win it by a head in 1:55:2. Scott Zeron did the driving for trainer Rick Zeron.

STALLION SERIES 2-YEAR-OLD FILLY PACE

38-1 long shot Keystone Eureka was game with a first-over charge. But the 6-5 favorite The Party’s Rockin was tough as nails on the front end. When challenged, the filly trained by Mark Harder and driven by Tyler Buter responded, holding tight to her lead to get it done by a length in 1:52:4 for her third straight victory.

STALLION SERIES 2-YEAR-OLD COLTS AND GELDINGS TROT

The 6-5 favorite Town Victor came in with wins in five of his seven races. He sat the pocket trip in the final behind Loyal Fox Hanover, who set imposing fractions but couldn’t shake the favorite. In the lane, Matt Kakaley guided Town Victor, trained by Rich Gillock, right past the pacesetter to go away for a two-length win in 1:54:4, a new Stallion Series final mark for male freshman trotters.

STALLION SERIES 2-YEAR-OLD COLTS AND GELDINGS PACE

Lake Charles, driven by David Miller and trained by Ray Schnittker, was made the 2-1 second choice and set the early pace. The even-money favorite Captain Groovy sat the pocket and pulled to the outside on the last turn hoping to take over. But Lake Charles was having none of it, pulling away for a convincing 3 ½-length victory in 1:51:3, the fastest pace ever in a 2-year-old Stallion Series final.

STALLION SERIES 3-YEAR-OLD FILLY TROT

Despite leaving from a tough #8 post position, Jezzy’s Legacy, the 8-5 betting favorite, was able to hustle to the front at the quarter. After Tyler Buter rated her well, the filly had to stand tall late as Southwind Storm made a three-wide charge at her late. But Jezzy’s Legacy, trained by Ray Schnittker, held up for a victory in 1:54:1, matching the fastest ever time by a three-year-old trotting filly in a Stallion Series final.

STALLION SERIES 3-YEAR-OLD FILLY PACE

Front-end speed had been the order of the day to that point, but Annie Hill, the 6-5 favorite in this final, chose a different tactic. Tyler Buter guided the filly to a second-over journey before a three-wide move in the lane. The Chris Oakes’ trainee powered on home past pacesetter Sweet Cherry to win by 1 ¼ lengths in 1:50:4, matching the fastest ever Stallion Series final for the group.

STALLION SERIES 3-YEAR-OLD COLTS AND GELDINGS TROT

Driver Yannick Gingras had to work Lindy’s Crazy Hall early to get the lead from the #8 post. But he then rated the 3-1 second betting choice very well, especially through a relaxed second panel. That paid off late, as Lindy’s Crazy Hall fought off the late challenge of betting favorite Kate’s Massive to deliver the win by a head in 1:54:3.

GREAT NORTHEAST OPEN SERIES MARES PACE

The heavy favorite Caviart Ally set the pace in the 1 ¼-mile rest, but five out of the six horses stayed relatively close to her for the entirety of the race. She tried to finish strong, by Bettor’s Up, a 14-1 long shot trained by Nick Surick, came on strong at the end of the elongated race as if she was just getting warmed up. Tim Tetrick rallied Bettor’s Up to the win in 2:21.

GREAT NORTHEAST OPEN SERIES TROT

The decorated mare Hannelore Hanover was the heavy favorite and she led most of the way in this final. But Rich And Miserable, who has burst upon the scene for trainer Todd Buter in 2019, stayed attached in the pocket. It came down to a thrilling stretch duel, a duel that was won by Rich And Miserable in the passing lane with Tyler Buter in the bike in 2:24:3.

GREAT NORTHEAST OPEN SERIES PACE

In the previous two Great Northeast Open finals, the leader had coughed the lead up late. And, with 1-2 favorite Backstreet Shadow lurking behind pacesetter None Bettor A, it looked like the same thing might happen again. But driver George Napolitano Jr. coaxed more out of 5-2 second choice None Bettor A, and the Andrew Harris’ trainee held on by in 2:20:1.

STALLION SERIES 3-YEAR-OLD COLTS AND GELDINGS PACE

Waterway, trained by Tony Alagna and driven by Dexter Dunn, ended the Monday stakes action in thrilling fashion. With a pocket trip behind long shot Seafarer, the 6-1 shot scooted up the passing lane late and was just able to nip Seafarer by a nose. Waterway, who had spent most of the last few months at Yonkers, paced the mile in 1:51.

That will do it for this week at Pocono, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at jbeviglia@mohegansunpocono.com.

 

 

World Record for 1 1/4 on the line in Monday’s Great Northeast Open Series Championships

 A world record for 1¼ miles on a 5/8-mile track was broken in last year’s inaugural edition of the Great Northeast Open Series (GNOS) Championships, and this coming Monday at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, the world record at both gaits for the elongated distance, twice around the Pocono 5/8-mile oval, may be in jeopardy in this season’s three $100,000 Championships.

 

It was Homicide Hunter who lowered the record on the trot to 2:22.2 in winning his GNOS Championship, and the World’s Fastest Trotter returns to Pocono Monday for trainer Ron Burke and Crawford Farms Racing. The gelded son of Mr Cantab starts from post six in a field of seven in the eleventh race, with David Miller driving. 2019 has not been as kind to the Homicide Hunter as last year, when he went 1:48.4 at Lexington to become the fastest-ever at his gait, but the veteran does have a GNOS victory and looked good against lesser foes last time out, so he may be on a bounceback.

 

The horse to beat in the GNOS starts just outside of him, and is a stablemate – 2017 Horse of the Year Hannelore Hanover, owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Frank Baldachino, and J&T Silva Stables, and to be driven by Yannick Gingras. The daughter of Swan For All has won half of her eight seasonal starts, has beaten 1:51 twice, and was undefeated in two GNOS starts, including setting a Philly track record of 1:52 in winning the final prelim.

The pacing record for 1¼ miles is 2:19.4 (it is not kept separate by sex), and it appears to be under greater threat from the open pacers division, race twelve. The field is replete with high-percentage winners, one being Highalator (post seven, trainer Jenny Bier, driver Richard Still), 11-for-23 in 2019, who won three GNOS prelims, including last week’s, and is the year’s co-fastest horse on a 5/8-mile track over the mile in 1:48. A fellow three-time GNOS winner is None Bettor A (post eight, trainer Andrew Harris, driver George Napolitano Jr. listed), who is 10-for-14 this season, won nine in a row earlier in the year, and controlled a good Open field at Yonkers last time out.

 

Add in Backstreet Hanover, who lost a five-race winning streak last time out, and Prairie Panther, each of them a winner in half of their twenty seasonal starts, and you have many fast horses who know the way to get to the winners circle – it should be fascinating to see which one in the full field of nine will be able to work out the winning trip.

 

The #1-ranked harness horse, pacing mare Shartin N, is sticking to her intermittent racing pattern, so she is not in the mare pacing Championship (a race where she had a rough trip and faded last year). One distaff who will not regret her absence is the Bettor’s Delight mare Caviart Ally, who is having an excellent season in the shadow of the superstar – in fact, Caviart Ally has not lost a race that Shartin N did not win since “Ally”’s seasonal debut on April 30. She has given Shartin N some notable battles, and she may be in controlling position from post two in the tenth race field of seven for driver Andrew McCarthy, trainer Brett Pelling, and Caviart Farms.

 

Eclipse Me N, the horse who beat Caviart Ally in her 2019 bow, is still going strong over four months later, and she’ll have the “home field advantage” Monday in that she is trained by Rene Allard, leading trainer at Pocono; Rene’s brother Simon will be driving from post three.

 

In addition to these three outstanding races for the more seasoned performers, the Monday card will also feature eight $40,000 Championship events for Pennsylvania Stallion Series high preliminary pointwinners. Those races will be featured in a separate release.

 

Post time for the first of fourteen races at Pocono on Monday is 4 p.m.

The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Week in Review

August 24 to August 30, 2019

The month of August is winding down and the stakes racing continues at a hot and heavy pace at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. And it seems that whenever those stakes races take place, top horsemen and horsewomen also bring some of their best overnight horses to Pocono as well, spicing up those races. Let’s take a look at all that transpired in the past racing week at Pocono and hand out some Weekly Awards along the way.

PACER OF THE WEEK: REBEL ROUSER

Early in the year, it was shaping up to be a monster season for this five-year-old gelding. Rebel Rouser came out of the gate in 2019 on top of his game with wins in seven out of ten races, all within the first four months of the year. But an injury sidelined him from April until August, stunting his formidable momentum. In his first start back at Yonkers on August 5, he went off as a heavy favorite and led until late but then broke stride, which sent him back to qualifiers.

When he returned to action on August 18 at Pocono, he was met with some skepticism from the bettors, going off at 6-1 as he faced a field of winners of four to seven condition pacers. But he found his old form in a big way, going gate to wire from an outside post for a victory on a sloppy track in a career-best 1:51. The bandwagon was full when he faced the same class on Sunday night at Pocono, as Rebel Rouser went off as a 3-5 favorite with an inside post in a field of eight.

Even though track conditions were ideal this time around, driver Yannick Gingras didn’t have to ask the gelding for nearly as much speed in the early going as was the case the previous week. Nobody challenged Rebel Rouser as he coasted to the half in just 57 seconds. That left him with plenty in the tank late when challenged by pocket horse Daamericansky, and Rebel Rouser, trained by Bob Cleary, held him off by a neck for his second straight win at Pocono, this one coming in 1:53:1.

Other top pacers this week include: Photobombr Hanover (Simon Allard, Tom Fanning), who followed up a win at Harrah’s with a condition victory on Saturday night at Pocono in 1:51:2; Torrid Bromac (Pat Berry, Ted Sulseki), whose claiming win on Saturday night in a career-best 1:50:4 gave him victories in three of his last four races; and Artful Bliss (Anthony Napolitano, Marta Piotrow), who rolled to his fourth straight $7,500 claiming victory on Monday afternoon, winning in 1:52:2.

TROTTER OF THE WEEK: RAINBOWINTHEWEST

Hailing from the barn of trainer Robert Rougeaux III, this four-year-old mare spent a lot of the season at The Meadows, and made it up as high as the Open Handicap level. Her first try at Pocono was a respectable third-place finish in a $14,000 condition trot. She dropped down a notch the following week and picked up a solid win as a heavy favorite in 1:54 at the $12,500 level, posting a career-best time in the process.

Feeling confident off that win, Rainbowinthewest jumped back up in class again to the $14,000 condition trotters on Sunday night. The big difference this time around was, after having the inside #1 post in her previous two journeys at Pocono, she was saddled with the outside post in a field of eight on Sunday night. That, along with the move back up in class, was probably why she was let go at odds of 9-1, well behind the 3-5 favorite Tag Up And Go.

Driver Marcus Miller, unconcerned by the odds or the post, sent Rainbowinthewest flying to the front in the early part of the mile. Tag Up And Go came at her with a strong first-over move, while Bucketlist Hanover, getting a garden trip, took aim on the inside late. But the mare had an answer for them all, gutting out the final strides to win a tight one. She managed the mile in 1:54:1 this time around, giving her two straight impressive condition victories on the Pocono oval.

Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Eurobond (Andy Miller, Julie Miller), who followed up a win at Harrah’s with a condition victory at Pocono on Sunday night, posting the week’s fastest trotting time of 1:51:3 in the process; Beyond Kronos (Tim Tetrick, Jim Campbell), whose Stallion Series win over other two-year-old trotting colts and geldings was his third straight and came in the fastest stakes time (1:54:4) of the night; and High Blue (George Napolitano Jr., Joe Pavia Jr.), who rattled off his second straight claiming handicap win on Tuesday and did so in 1:54:2, matching a career-best time.

LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: FASHION WINNER

With Marcus Miller in the bike, this trotter rallied for a condition victory on the Monday afternoon program at 26-1, paying out $55.60 on a $2-win ticket.

DRIVER OF THE WEEK: SIMON ALLARD

Simon went on a tear on Saturday, winning six out of the 14 races on the card, with only of those victories coming aboard a betting favorite.

TRAINER OF THE WEEK: JIM CAMPBELL

Campbell’s impressive contingent of two-year-old trotters include Sunday night Stallion Series winner Beyond Kronos and Sire Stakes winner Real Cool Sam, who remained unbeaten after seven races.

That will do it for this week at Pocono, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at jbeviglia@hotmail.com.

 

 

The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Week in Review

August 17 to 23, 2019

This past week at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono was filled with stakes action once again. We featured both Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and Stallion Series action for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings (Sunday) and two-year-old trotting fillies (Monday.) In addition, we enjoyed another round of the Great Northeast Open series on Saturday night, this time with the Open pacers taking a center stage. A busy week to be sure, and one that provides us with many candidates for this edition of the Weekly Awards.

PACER OF THE WEEK: AFLAME HANOVER

This three-year-old colt from the barn of Linda Schadel has been tearing it up of late in condition paces. And that’s understandable, considering the kind of competition he faced earlier in the year. Facing extremely long odds in both the North America Cup in Canada and the Max Hempt Memorial Pace at Pocono, Aflame Hanover snuck in for fourth-place finishes in both, managing to get his handlers pretty substantial payback in the process.

When he returned to overnight racing, he was ready to flex his muscle. First up was a victory at Pocono on July 29 over non-winners of two. Then he headed over to Harrah’s at Philadelphia for a victory over non-winners of three. His quest for three in a row brought him back to Pocono on Sunday night, where he went off as the 3-5 favorite in a field of eight non-winners of four for a purse of $15,000. Leaving from post position #2, Aflame Hanover swooped Rickybobbyinthehaus to take the lead on the first turn.

From there, there were really no anxious moments. Driver Andrew McCarthy rated the pace at a solid level, so that Aflame Hanover didn’t overexert himself but also so that nobody could put a real challenge to him with a first-over move. In the home stretch, the colt solidified his lead, holding off the closing A Bettor Beach to pick up the win by 2 ¼ lengths. The winning time of 1:51:2 on a track listed in good condition was a new career-mark for Aflame Hanover, who just keeps getting stronger each time out.

Other top pacers this week include: T’s Electric (Tyler Buter, Emily Bost) who picked up his third straight claiming handicap win on Sunday night, getting it done in the slop in 1:53:4; Backstreet Shadow (Pat Berry, Ron Burke), who followed up three wins in a row elsewhere by shipping in and capturing Saturday night’s division of the Great Northeast Open Series pace in 1:49:2 in the slop; and Derecho (George Napolitano Jr., Gilberto Garcia-Herrera), who moved up in class to win his second straight condition pace on Saturday night, this one in 1:52:4 in the sloppy conditions.

TROTTER OF THE WEEK: VERY VERY FAST

Whoever named this trotter must have had a very good premonition of what was to come in his racing career. Now aged 10, Very Very Fast has shown no signs of slowing down. In fact, back on July 14 at Pocono, the gelding set a career-best with at Pocono with a win in 1:52:2. A few weeks later, he stepped up into the $21,500 condition trotting group and managed another victory, this one in 1:53:2. Last week he very nearly missed capturing an Open Handicap trot at Tioga, finishing second from an outside post.

He returned to Pocono on Sunday night to once again face off with the $21,500 condition trotters. And it was a stout field he faced. In fact, despite all his recent success at Pocono, Very Very Fast went off as a 7-2 third choice. Leaving from post position #2 in a field of eight, he was sent immediately to the front end by driver Tim Tetrick in the sloppy conditions. Even though he was rated well, however, the 6-5 favorite Scirocco Rob seemed to be a major threat as he lurked in the pocket for much of the mile.

In the stretch, Tetrick asked Very Very Fast for more juice and the veteran provided it. When Scirocco Rob tried to respond, he went off-stride. There was still the matter of Pappy Go Go, who was closing very well out three-wide in the lane. But Very Very Fast held him off to win it by a half-length, posting a mile of 1:54 in the off-going. That gives him three top-flight condition wins at Pocono in a little more than a month’s time, once again living up to that speedy name of his.

Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Bill’s Man (Corey Callahan, John Butenschoen), who followed up a win at Tioga with a condition victory on Sunday night in 1:54:1; Zlatan (Tim Tetrick, Vincent Fusco Jr.) who shipped in to pick up a tough condition win on Sunday night in 1:55:4; and Sister Sledge (Yannick Gingras, Ron Burke), the budding superstar two-year-old filly who stayed unbeaten in her career after five races with a Sire Stakes win on Monday in 1:56:1.

LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: SHARP ACTION MONEY

There were a lot of live long-shot winners this week, but this pacer driven by Tom Jackson topped them all, winning a condition on Saturday night at 44-1 for a $91.80 payout on a $2 wager.

DRIVER OF THE WEEK: MATT KAKALEY

Kakaley loved the stakes action on Sunday night with two wins apiece in the Sire Stakes and Stallion Series, with one of the Sire Stakes victories coming aboard 44-1 long shot Tell Them Lou.

TRAINER OF THE WEEK: PER ENGBLOM

During Monday’s stakes action for two-year-old trotting fillies, Engblom managed a Stallion series victory with Rebecca Clark and a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes win with Queen Of The Hill.

That will do it for this week at Pocono, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at jbeviglia@mohegansunpocono.com.

 

 

The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Week in Review

June 29 to July 5, 2019

Expectations are a funny thing. They can put you in a mindset where you can only see a few possible outcomes for some upcoming event, when, in actuality, life has a funny way of showing us that anything can happen at any time. That is certainly true in the world of high-stakes harness racing, where unpredictability is built into the sport because of the dependence on animals to repeat performances week after week against other top-notch competitors all trying to do the same thing.

After watching the eliminations for the 2019 edition of Sun Stakes Saturday at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, I thought I had a pretty good feel for what would transpire. But I can’t say that any of the four Finals this past Saturday worked out anything like what I would have expected, other than the fact that they were all as exciting as could be predicted. I clearly wasn’t alone in my confusion, as none of the four races was won by a favorite, and the odds for the winners got progressively longer as the night went on.

Let’s take a look back at what transpired and try to pick apart how the unexpected became commonplace on this star-studded night of racing.

THE JAMES M. LYNCH MEMORIAL PACE FOR THREE-YEAR-OLD PACING FILLIES:

What We Expected To Happen: A showdown between Treacherous Reign and Warrawee Ubeaut, two fillies who have been going back and forth at each other in a battle for divisional supremacy.

What Actually Happened: Well, in this case, we weren’t all that far off, because there was indeed a showdown between Warrawee Ubeaut and Treacherous Reign, the top two choices in the race. But that showdown occurred too early and for too long a chunk of the mile, leaving both a bit weary in the lane. That left the 3-1 third choice Stonebridge Soul in perfect position in the pocket. Driver Tim Tetrick guided the Chris Ryder trainee up the passing lane for the victory by three-quarters of a length in 1:49:3, providing the first indication that the pocket was going to be the place to be on this night.

THE MAX C. HEMPT MEMORIAL PACE FOR THREE-YEAR-OLD PACERS

What We Expected To Happen: Proof, with a much better post position than the other two elimination winners, would build on his outstanding career-best mile in the eliminations and dominate.

What Actually Happened: Proof did indeed go off with 1-5 expectations, but wasn’t on his game after starting slow, eventually finishing sixth. Meanwhile, Captain Victorious tried to double on his elim win with another gutsy front-pacing effort. But he couldn’t shake Shake That House, trained by Chris Oakes, who has a shelf full of huge stakes victories at Pocono. From the pocket, Shake That House, with Brian Sears in the bike, erupted late for a two-length win in a career-best 1:49:2, paying off handsomely for his backers with 8-1 odds.

THE BEN FRANKLIN PACE FOR FREE-FOR-ALL PACERS

What We Expected To Happen: A three-way donnybrook between Western Fame, McWicked, and Lather Up that would produce a definitive aged pacing group standout.

What Actually Happened: Lather Up continued to be haunted by clunkers during the biggest nights at Pocono, starting slowly and eventually breaking stride. McWicked battled first over but could never get even with the leader. Western Fame, who went off as the favorite, set that pace, but was pressured enough by McWicked that he labored in the lane. Which left This Is The Plan, winless in 2019 coming into the race, ready for his closeup. The Ron Burke trainee came flying from the pocket with Yannick Gingras driving to win at 12-1 in 1:48:2.

THE EARL BEAL JR. MEMORIAL TROT

What We Expected To Happen: A coronation for Greenshoe, the colt who many thought could only lose if he broke stride (and even then, many wondered if it would matter.)

What Actually Happened: Trainer/driver Ake Svanstedt didn’t get the memo apparently, because he fired out from an outside post with 55-1 shot Marseille as if the outcome was still up in the air. Greenshoe, meanwhile, got away a bit lethargically, in much the same manner as he did in the elimination. The difference on this night was that he was beaten to the punch in the outer flow, meaning that he couldn’t glide up to his liking. Once he finally did shake free, it was too late to catch the well-rated Marseille, the stunning winner in 1:52:3.

That will do it for this week at Pocono, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at jbeviglia@mohegansunpocono.com.