Aug 28, 2019 | Racing
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 [email protected].
May 8, 2019 | Racing
May 4-10, 2019
With the Kentucky Derby taking place this past Saturday and our traditional double-header of racing on that day, The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono hosted five cards of live harness racing instead of the usual four for the week. As if choosing for the Weekly Awards wasn’t difficult enough, there are many more possibilities this time around because of the extra races. Let’s take a look at who garners the honors for this busy week of harness racing action.
PACER OF THE WEEK: HIGHALATOR
On Saturday night, Pocono hosted its first big stakes race of the season with the Van Rose Invitational Pace for a purse of $50,000. It was also the first race at Pocono in the Great Northeast Open series, which inaugurated last year to much acclaim and will culminate with big-money finals at the end of the summer. Saturday night’s race looked on paper like it would belong to Western Fame, who was coming off a convincing victory in the $500,000 final of the Levy series at Yonkers.
But the field was full of top aged pacers, including Highalator, a standout five-year-old stallion from the Jenny Bier barn who always seems to rise to the occasion when he appears at Pocono. He left from the #2 post in a field of nine as the 2-1 second choice, while Western Fame left from the #7 spot at 3-5. Western Fame grabbed the engine while Highalator, with Richard Still in the bike, found the pocket seat early.
The key to the race may have been how Western Fame was hounded by long shot The Wall and his first-over bid. In the stretch, the favorite couldn’t summon enough to hold off the pursuit. Highalator, on the other hand, began to erupt as soon as the passing lane opened up. He flew home just a neck in front of Bettor Memories, who came out three-wide at the end of the mile with a lot of pace. Highalator paced the mile in 1:49:4 for yet another signature win on the Pocono oval.
Other top pacers for the week included: Always At My Place (Anthony Napolitano, Ron Burke), who scored a condition victory on Saturday night in 1:49:1, which is the fastest pacing time of the year to date at Pocono; Dancin Hill (Tyler Buter, Gareth Dowse), who won his third straight race, the last two at Pocono, when he beat a claiming handicap group on Saturday night in a career-best 1:50:4; and Nine Ways (George Napolitano Jr., Antonia Storer), who moved up the condition ladder for his second straight victory on Saturday night, getting it done in a career-best 1:50:1.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: TWO AM
With the exception of a break of stride on April 14, this five-year-old gelding from the Todd Buter barn has been a consistent threat at Pocono in the 2019 meet. He has hit the board in three of four races here, peaking with a condition victory in a $21,500 featured condition trot on April 21 in 1:53:2. He returned to action in the $17,500 condition feature on Sunday night following a 6th place finish at the Meadowlands in his previous start.
Leaving from post position #2 in a field of eight, Two AM, who went off as the 1-2 favorite, sat back and let others battle for the early lead on the sloppy track. After some jockeying for position, Truemass Volo grabbed the engine, while Two AM idled in fifth in the early portion of the race. But driver Tyler Buter didn’t allow him to sit there for very long, sending him in motion first-over as the field headed into the clubhouse turn.
Buter didn’t wait around for cover, urging Two AM to engage Truemass Volo with his first-over move. He corralled the leader around the final turn and then left him, and the rest of the field, behind in the stretch. Despite being parked around two turns, the gelding still was out-trotting everybody in the lane, coming to the line a 3 ¼-length winner over Truemass Volo in 1:54:3, a time which was especially impressive considering the sloppy conditions.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Tiger’s Too Good (Anthony Napolitano, Pete Pellegrino), whose condition victory on Sunday night in the slop in 1:57 gave him two consecutive victories; Rich And Miserable (Tyler Buter, Todd Buter), who followed up a win at Yonkers with a condition win at Pocono on Sunday night in the slop in 1:56:2; and Karets (George Napolitano Jr., James Cosenza), who powered to a condition win on Monday in 1:53:4, the fastest trotting time posted this week at Pocono.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: SHADY CITY
A flying rally in the passing lane gave this condition pacer driven by Larry Stalbaum a victory on Saturday night at 24-1, good for a $51.40 payout on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: ANTHONY NAPOLITANO
A-Nap certainly enjoyed the double-header schedule on Saturday, as he picked up four driving victories in both the afternoon and evening cards.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: TODD BUTER
The Buter barn seems to have an endless supply of excellent trotters of all ages, as evidenced by Todd’s wins with Two AM and Rich And Miserable on Sunday night.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
Apr 11, 2019 | Racing
April 6-12, 2019
Our second full week of racing for the 2019 season at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono witnessed the Bobby Weiss late closer series getting into full gear. For the next month or so, three and four-year-old horses of varying genders and gaits will be battling it out to make the finals of that series, which go for a hefty purse. One of those Weiss horses actually grabs Trotter of the Week honors this week, which you’ll discover as you read on for this edition of the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: GILLYS BOY
In Saturday night’s featured condition pace, with a purse of $21,500, this five-year-old gelding trained by Ron Burke went off as a 6-1 third choice despite coming in on a two-race winning streak. That was probably because those two wins, one at the Meadowlands and one at Pocono on March 16 in 1:52:2, both came against slightly lesser competition. Many of the other horses in the field on Saturday night were either veterans of the class or were coming from similarly stiff competition at other venues.
Gillys Boy, as he did in those two wins in a row, shot out of the gate quickly, grabbing the lead from post position #5 in the field of nine. But unlike those previous two starts, the gelding had to cede the lead to someone else. Stars Align A, the even-money favorite, swooped by him as they rounded the first turn. Gillys Boy had to play the waiting game, taking his chance that he’d be able to outpace the favorite in the lane.
When they came to top of the stretch, it was still Stars Align A and Gillys Boy sitting first and second, respectively. That’s when driver Anthony Napolitano called on a little bit more from Gillys Boy and he stormed past the favorite to win it by a half-length in 1:50:3. That makes three straight wins, with the latest win coming in a career-best time against the toughest competition on the grounds, meaning Gillys Boy has been the man so far in the Pocono meet.
Other top pacers this week include: Havefaithinme N (Jim Morrill Jr., Jose Godinez), who scored a condition victory on Saturday night in 1:50:2, a new career-best and the fastest pacing time at Pocono so far in 2019; River Runs Deep (Anthony Napolitano, Marta Piotrow), who switched barns and moved up in class but still scored his third claiming win in a row on Saturday night, scoring in 1:53; and Turbo Hill (Hunter Oakes driver and trainer), who pushed his winning streak to five, two of which have come at Pocono, after handling a division of the Bobby Weiss series for male pacers on Saturday night in 1:54:2.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: MY LINDY WINNER
You can’t hold it against a horse if the competition against it isn’t up to snuff on a given week. That was the case for My Lindy Winner in his race on Sunday night. Considering that it was the first leg of the Bobby Weiss series for male trotters, you might have expected a pretty competitive group. But the way the draw worked out, he ended up with one of the softest fields against him. Since he was probably the divisional favorite to start, that meant he would be the heavy favorite.
After all, My Lindy Winner, a four-year-old stallion trained by Rob Harmon, came into the race on a three-race winning streak, with each victory more impressive than the one before. His streak started with a win at the Meadowlands, then continued when he posted a career-best mile in a condition victory at Pocono in 1:55:1. On March 28, he overcame an early break of stride to gut out a win at Yonkers. All of those took a lot more effort than he would need on Sunday night.
Facing just four other competitors after two horses were scratched, My Lindy Winner, a 1-9 favorite with Jim Morrill Jr. in the bike, quickly grabbed the lead past the quarter-pole. From there, he was never threatened, coasting to a six-length victory in an unhurried 1:57. The competition will almost certainly be tougher from this point forward. But My Lindy Winner is racing with such confidence right now that it might not matter who is up against him.
Honorable mention on the trotting side this week goes to: Starsaboveallerage (Anthony Napolitano, Allen Sisco), who scored a condition trotting win on Sunday night in 1:54:4, the fastest trotting time of the week at Pocono; Archway (George Napolitano Jr, Aaron Lambert), who followed up his maiden victory at Freehold with an easy condition victory on Monday afternoon in a career-best 1:56:4; and Spring In Paris (Andrew McCarthy, Steven LeBlanc), whose victory in 1:57:4 in the second leg of the Bobby Weiss series for distaff trotters on Tuesday was her second straight in the series and her third in a row to start the season.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: ONE MORE MIRACLE
Maybe “miracle” is too strong a word, but this pacer driven by Billy Mann certainly conjured up a surprise with a victory in a claimer on Sunday night at 14-1, paying off $31.80 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: JIM MORRILL JR
Morrill doesn’t usually stick around for the whole meet at Pocono, but he does damage while he’s here, as evidenced by three straight cards of multiple driving victories this past week.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: MARTA PIOTROW
Piotrow made the most of her two starts on Saturday night, winning with claimers River Runs Deep and JK Pridenjoy, both of whom were brand new to her barn.
That will do it for this week at Pocono, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
May 1, 2018 | Racing
When The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono created the $50,000 Van Rose Memorial Invitational Pace, honoring the late local handicapper and writer, it was said that Rose’s reaction might be “They named a $50,000 race after ME?”
Well, Van, guess what – this year it’s the $100,000 Van Rose Memorial Invitational Pace that will be featured on the evening portion of a Kentucky Derby Day doubleheader this Saturday at The Downs, as 14 entrants resulted in the creation of two $50,000 divisions of the Van Rose Pace.
The credentials these horses are bringing to Pocono on Saturday are simply outstanding. Consider these collective achievements of the fourteen fast pacers:
–Combined lifetime earnings of $13,994,142, or an average of $999,581 per horse; with two $2 million+ winners (Mach It So and Christen Me N) and four additional $1 million winners (Boston Red Rocks, Wakizashi Hanover, Keystone Velocity, and Rockin Ron);
–An average speed mark of 1:48.3;
–Four of the finalists from 2018’s richest race to date, April 21’s $532,000 Levy Final at Yonkers, including the winner, Keystone Velocity, the richest horse of 2018 in North America, out of the barn of local trainer Rene Allard, a successful defender of his 2017 Levy championship, the 2017 Franklin champion at Pocono, and the Older Pacer of the Year last season;
–Four of the Levy Consolation starters, including the winner, Always At My Place, whose 1:47.2 mile here in 2015 still stands as the world record for four-year-old pacing geldings;
–Ten wins in the Levy preliminary legs from among the fields;
–The winner of the recent Whata Baron Series Final at The Meadowlands, Barimah A – who also just happens to be the defending Van Rose Memorial winner!
Here are the fields for the two Rose divisions; morning line and final drivers should be available tomorrow (Tuesday):
5th race — $50,000 Rose Pace division – 1. Boston Red Rocks; 2. Rodeo Romeo; 3. Long Live Rock; 4. Wakizashi Hanover; 5. Always At My Place; 6. Dr J Hanover; 7. Barimah A.
10th race — $50,000 Rose Pace division – 1. Keystone Velocity; 2. Rockin Ron; 3. Super Imposed N; 4. Mach It So; 5. Bettor Memories; 6. Christen Me N; 7. Rockeyed Optimist.
The Saturday evening card at Pocono will also feature the four $30,000 Championships of the Bobby Weiss Series, with the top pointwinners in the four preliminaries earning their way to their respective finals. Here’s a brief overview of those races:
6th race, trotting females: Weiss preliminaries won by entrants: 11; three-time winner and fastest winner, I M Fishin, 1:56; summary in a sentence: After a break in her first prelim, I M Fishin has rattled off three straight on the front end, and is the mare to beat.
8th race, trotting males: Weiss preliminaries, 11; three-time winner, Chas Hanover; fastest winner, Archibald, 1:55.1; summary in a sentence: Archibald has two wins and two breaks; if he can’t mind his manners, there’s a lot of talent waiting to pick up the pieces.
11th race, pacing males: Weiss preliminaries, 10; three-time winner, I Soar Him First; fastest winner, Riggle Wealth, 1:50.3; summary in a sentence: After bad luck in the first two legs, Riggle Wealth has been raced on the front end in his last two and won; may face more speedy pressure here.
12th race, pacing females: Weiss preliminaries: 9; three-time winners: Kimberlee and Sharen Hanover; fastest winner, Sharen Hanover, 1:52.2; summary in a sentence: Kimberlee skipped a week but won all of her Weiss starts; Sharen Hanover has won her last three, and in dominating fashion.
The features on the afternoon card will be $15,000 Weiss Consolations for both groups of trotters (the pacing events did not fill). These races will go as the Late Double on the 10-race card that is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.; after a break for the Derby, the nighttime equine fireworks will be beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Oct 11, 2017 | Racing
October 7-13, 2017
It’s pretty difficult to believe that we are in the final quarter of the racing season here at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. (The warm weather is quite deceiving, because it certainly hasn’t seemed like autumn around here.) It will be soon be time to pick out yearend honors at Pocono, but that can wait a bit. For now, let’s be content to find the finest horses of the past week as we hand out the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: SI SEMALU
This seven-year-old gelding from the Bruce Clarke barn has been a solid performer for much of the season both here and at Harrah’s, but he seems to really be peaking here at the tail end of the meet. On September 30, Si Semalu dropped into a $12,500 condition pace and worked out a trip from an outside post, coming up late for a win in 1:50:1 as a 16-1 long shot. The winning time was a new career-best mark.
On Saturday night, he stepped back up into the $14,000 condition group, a class that had given him problems earlier this season. This was a pretty stacked race, with a field that included million-dollar earner Lucan Hanover as the odds-on favorite. Si Semalu got away third from the #7 post as an 8-1 shot with Jim Marohn Jr. in the bike, while Lucan Hanover called the early shots. The pace was quick and the leader was pressured throughout.
On the home stretch, Marohn had room to nudge Si Semalu to the outside. After saving so much energy to that point, he powered home past a tiring Lucan Hanover and held off closer Sports Bettor by three parts of a length. His winning time was 1:50:3, giving him two straight victories with sizzling times and a lot of confidence heading into whatever comes next.
Other top pacers this week include: Unbeamlieveable (Matt Kakaley, Vincent Fusco Jr.), a mare who overcame an outside post and a barn switch to capture her second straight claiming handicap on Monday, getting it done in a career-best 1:52; Motor City Marco (John Kakaley, Travis Alexander), a three-year-old who rolled on the front end on Sunday to his third straight condition victory, picking up the victory in a new career-best of 1:53:3; and Allstar Partner (Anthony Napolitano, Andrew Harris), whose condition victory on Saturday night in a career-best 1:49 represented the fastest pacing time of the past week at Pocono.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: MONEYDONTBUYULOVE
It has been an impressive streak put together of late by this four-year-old gelding from the Rene Allard barn. He came into a condition trot on Sunday night having won his last four consecutive starts. One of those was at Pocono in a non-winners of three condition group on September 5 on a sloppy track in 1:57. There was also a victory at Saratoga and back-to-back scores at Yonkers amassed by Moneydontbuyulove during the hot stretch.
On Sunday night, Moneydontbuyulove faced his toughest test yet, going up against a noon-winners of five class for a purse of $16,000. The fact that he was stepping up didn’t scare off the bettors, who made him a 1-9 favorite in a short field of six. His toughest competition figured to be from Arch Credit, a three-year-old who was coming off a sharp qualifier and sure enough hustled to the lead.
Arch Credit attempted to set nasty enough fractions to shake the favorite, but even getting to the three-quarter mark in 1:24:4 didn’t do the trick, as Moneydontbuyulove stayed attached. In the stretch, it was essentially a two-horse race, and Moneydontbuyulove utilized the passing lane to make his play for the lead. With Simon Allard in the bike, he glided by to beat Arch Credit by 1 ¾ lengths. For the icing on the cake, his fifth straight victory came in a new career mark of 1:54:1.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Catch A Mission (Jim Marohn Jr., Erv Miller), a mare who followed up a win at Harrah’s with one at Pocono in a condition on Sunday night in 1:53:4, which was the fastest trotting time of the week; Silvermass Volo (Mike Simons, Michael Holcman), who rallied from far back for a condition win on Sunday night in 1:54:3; and Stormont Wizard (Matt Kakaley, Ron Burke), who moved up in class to knock off a condition group on Tuesday night in 1:54, which was a new career-best time.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: SIBSON
This trotter previously had issues staying on stride, but, with Anthony Napolitano in the bike, he was flat and fast in a condition win on Tuesday night at 33-1, paying $68.80 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: JOHN KAKALEY
The veteran driver had just four drives on Sunday night but won with two of them, scoring with pacer Motor City Marco and trotter Swiss Platinum.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: BRUCE CLARKE
The Clarke barn scored three wins on the week, highlighted by a training double on Sunday night and the second straight win by Si Semalu on Saturday night.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
