Oct 28, 2013 | Racing
They thunder down the stretch, a sea of grey and white…a ghostly apparition of horses! It’s time again for the Grey Ghost and Poltergeist Pace at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs! The renowned record-breaking track will play host to all grey** or roan horses on Wednesday, October 30th, otherwise known as “Mischief Night”.
Entries for the race include morning line favorite Gotta Love Him, trained by Cindy Weitoish and driven by Matt Kakaley, at odds of 3-1; last year’s Grey Ghost winner Lilywhites, ready to defend her win, and driven by Mike Kimelman for trainer Sara Kimelman, at odds of 7-2 as the second favorite; Next at odds of 4-1 is the Joe Pavia Jr.-trained Express Jet, coming off a second place finish at Pocono on October 24th and driven by Ron Pierce. Also entered are Saratoga shipper Six Gun, trained by Brad Irvine and driven by Joe Bongiorno at 9-2; the Robert Lounsbury-trained Working Stiffs at 10-1, who finished in the money in her last four starts at Monticello Raceway; Artic Byrd, shipping in from Yonkers, and trained and driven by Truman Gale, at odds of 12-1; odds of 5-1 on McThird Dimension, trained by Blake Macintosh and driven by Simon Allard; and Hillcrest Bigdaddy, driven by Aaron Byron and trained by Scott Osterhout at 8-1. The race is the third on the card with approximate Post Time of 7:06 p.m.
Children of Pocono horsemen will be on hand to present the winning trophy in a specially decorated Winner’s Circle. This year, while Outrider Terry Scott recuperates from recent injuries, his brother Gary will take his place as the Headless Horseman, leading the ghostly greys down the stretch.
**According to the U.S. Trotting Association, the governing body of harness racing, less than five percent of all harness horses are grey in color. The most famous was the former world champion trotter and Hambletonian winner, Greyhound.
Jun 2, 2013 | Racing
June 1, 2013
Camaes Fellow won a thrilling Preferred pace on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs and matched a world record in the process. The race carried the night’s top purse of $25,000.
On a night when the warm temperatures produced sizzling times all night long, it seemed a safe bet that the featured pacers would be responsible for an especially rapid time, even with only five horses in the field. Camaes Fellow (Mach Three-Camae), a 5-year-old gelding from the Ron Burke barn, was made the 9-5 second choice behind 8-5 Yonkers invader Something For Doc.
But it was Diamond Stick Pin, who left from the inside post, who set the table with awe-inspiring fractions of 26 even, 53:2, and 1:20:2. That was bad news for Something For Doc, who attempted to get the lead on the front stretch but gut parked on the outside for his troubles. Camaes Fellow sat in the pocket and tracked the leader until pulling to the outside in the stretch.
Diamond Stick Pin appeared to have enough left to get home until weakening slightly in the final strides. That’s when driver Matt Kakaley urged Camaes Fellow past at the very end to win by a neck in a stunning time of 1:48:1. Jepson Hanover picked up the show.
That time of 1:48:1 set the new track record for aged geldings on the pace. The old mark of 1:48:2 was set by Pilgrims Toner in 2010 and matched by Hruby’s N Luck last June. The time also matched the world record for the age group on a 5/8-mile oval, which was set by Bettor Sweet at Tioga in 2011.
Camaes Fellow, who is owned by Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi, and M1 Racing, won for the fourth time in 12 starts this season. It was his 15th career victory, pushing his lifetime earnings to $639,755.
May 14, 2013 | Racing
May 12, 2013
Camille outdueled Feeling You in a rematch of the rivalry they recently stoked at Yonkers, winning Sunday night’s featured Preferred pace for mares at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The race carried the night’s top purse of $25,000.
On April 27 at Yonkers, Feeling You rallied in the stretch to knock off pacesetting Camille in the $250,000 Blue Chip final at Yonkers. On Sunday night at Pocono, Camille benefitted from a #3 post position in a field of nine, while Feeling You started from the #7 hole. Camille was made the 4-5 betting favorite, and the 5-year-old mare from the Ron Burke barn took the lead around the first turn from early leader Warrawee Koine.
Driver Matt Kakaley was able to rate the speed well aboard Camille (Camluck-Art Of Design) with a 29-second second panel, and the mare would need every bit of that energy when Feeling You came at her first-over on the back stretch. The two dueled right to the line before Camille prevailed by a nose in 1:51:1. Warrawee Koine picked up the show and Economy Terror, a former Breeders Crown winner and two-time Pennsylvania State champ, was fourth in her first start of the season.
Camille, owned by Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, M1 Stable, and Jack Piatt II, won for the fourth time in six tries this year in what was her first sojourn outside of New York in 2013. It was also her 24th career win and pushed her lifetime earnings to $849,309.
In other action at Pocono on Sunday night, Only In My Dreams (Credit Winner-Invincible Dream), trained by Gail Wrubel and driven by Mike Simons, won a $13,000 condition trot that was run in honor of Bobby Manning. Manning was a longtime Pocono horseman who died a few months ago at the age of 51. The Pocono horsemen gathered en masse in the winner’s circle following the race to honor Manning’s memory.
Apr 6, 2013 | Racing
March 30-April 5, 2013
There were only three nights of racing this past week at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, since there was no live card on Easter Sunday. Luckily, those three nights were jam-packed with stellar performances, giving us no shortage of candidates for the Weekly Awards. Let’s take a look at the best of the best in the week that was at MSPD.
PACER OF THE WEEK: RIVER SHARK
With the Breeders Crown scheduled at Pocono, we anticipated that we’d be seeing some of the finest pacers and trotters in the country getting the lay of the land at the track throughout the season. Apparently, the talent parade has already begun, as 7-year-old pacer River Shark proved with his outstanding effort on Saturday night.
The gelding from the Mark Ford barn came into Saturday night’s $18,000 condition pace with 33 wins under his belt and over $1 million in his bank account. Coming off tough races at the Meadowlands and Yonkers, River Shark was made the odds-on favorite with George Napolitano Jr. in the bike, but the other competitors in the tough field weren’t about to cede an easy win to him. Several horses took shots at him on the front end only to get rebuffed with extreme prejudice.
He faced his toughest challenge in the stretch, as pocket horse Take It Back Terry shot up the passing lane after an excellent trip to that point. River Shark dug deep for one more burst of speed and came up a winner in 1:51. Expect to see more of that from this excellent pacer, and expect to see a lot more star performances at Pocono throughout the season.
Other top pacers this week include: Move On (Jim Morrill Jr., Dennis Walsh), who doubled his claiming price on Saturday night to score his second consecutive win, this time beating the $10,000 claimers in a career-best 1:52:1; Shebestingin (Jim Morrill Jr., Joe Holloway), whose victory in 1:52:3 in the Bobby Weiss Series for 3-year-old fillies on Tuesday kept her unbeaten after four career starts; and Happy Hour Honey (Jim Morrill Jr., Kent Sherman), a mare who scored her second straight victory over the $10,000 claimers on Wednesday night in 1:54:1.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: IMPERIAL COUNT
There are times in the sport of harness racing when a horse is just so bound and determined to come up with the win that no manner of obstacle can derail it from that victory. When you add in excellent talent, you’ve got a winning combination, one that Imperial Count possessed in the week’s featured preferred trot, which carried a purse of $25,000, on Saturday night.
Imperial Count, a five-year-old stallion from the barn of Nifty Norman, got away a bit slow in the race, which was just his second start of the season. Driver Tyler Buter set him in motion on the back stretch behind two other horses, but problems arose when the horse that was first in line on the outside went off-stride.
Buter had no other choice but to send Imperial Count out wide around the final turn to avoid the breaking horse, but still the gelding found enough momentum to track down pacesetting Photo King by a half-length for the win in 1:54:2. Like we said, combine effort with talent and it’s often too tough to stop.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Pembroke Heat Wave (George Napolitano Jr., Mark Ford), who shipped in from Harrah’s for a victory in a condition trot on Tuesday night in 1:55:4; Berkshire (Jim Morrill Jr., Antonella Galie), who scored his first win of the season on Tuesday over a rugged condition group in a career-best 1:55:3; and Maximum Credit (George Napolitano Jr., Paul Kennedy), who won his third straight race overall and his second in a row in the Bobby Weiss Series for 3-year-old trotting colts and geldings, scoring on Wednesday night in 1:58:1.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: ONE LINE GUY
This first-time starter was facing a field of more experienced trotters in his debut on Tuesday night, but he scored with Andrew McCarthy at 18-1 for a $38 payoff on a $2 bet.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: JIM MORRILL JR.
Morrill is off to a blistering start in the early part of the Pocono meet, and the highlight came on Wednesday night when he ripped off five consecutive wins on the card.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: MARK FORD
Ford is one of the early leaders in the trainers’ standings, and he had another solid week, including a training double on Tuesday night with wins in consecutive races on the program.
That will do it for this week, but we’ll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]
