Driver Corey Callahan kept Evaluate in third behind a contested pace (27.3, 55.4), then moved him uncovered 5/8 to challenge favored Captain Morgan, who had finished ahead of Evaluate in the first round of the Sire Stakes. But Evaluate proved strong in the stretch despite the raw overland journey, going by by 1 /4 lengths as he ran his lifetime record to 6-3-3-0 for trainer Marcus Melander and Stall TZ Inc.
Callahan won a second Sire Stakes division as Whats The Word ran his record to 3-for-3 with trotting hopples and 2-for-2 in 2018 Sire Stakes races while recording a personal best of 1:53.2. The Cantab Hall gelding brushed to command in front of the stands, then came home in 56.1-27.4 to be well clear at the wire for trainer Janice Connor, also co-owner with the Arden Homestead Stable.
The third winner in Sires competition is probably the best-known of the three, the Muscle Hill colt and 2017 Peter Haughton winner You Know You Do, who also posted a lifetime record of 1:53.2. The $350,000 yearling, making his seasonal debut after earning almost $375G at two, brushed to the lead under the wire the first time for driver Yannick Gingras, then stepped home in 56.2 on his own, hinting at being on the edge of another fine season for trainer Jimmy Takter and owners Howard Taylor, the Order By Stable, Bud Hatfield, and Mkatz Alibfeld Sgoldband.
In the featured pace for older horses, worth $21,500, Lawrencetown Beach was involved in a searing half, yet still had enough to rally out of the pocket to nose out closing Maxdaddy Blue Chip in 1:49 – a new mark which also equals the fastest mile of the year in North America on a 5/8-mile track (a great night for the speedy Pocono surface).
After leaving in a 26.2 quarter then pushing a foe to a 53.2 half, the Somebeachsomewhere gelding sat patiently in the pocket past the 1:20.4 ¾ pole, came out at headstretch and paced to the lead, then just photoed the charging Maxdaddy Blue Chip for driver Matt Kakaley, trainer Ron Burke, and the partnership of Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, M1 Stable LLC, and Phil Collura.
And it wouldn't be Saturday night without a mention of Walks Of Life, who reclaimed the clear title as winningest harness horse in North America this year with his 13th triumph of 2018 (coming clear of the remarkable 14YO mare Quicksilvercandy A, who had tied him with her twelfth win on the year Wednesday at Buffalo).
The fast and game Walks Of Life, an altered son of Western Ideal, took a new mark of 1:50.4 as he ran his 2018 scorecard to 19-13-5-1-$79,222, and changed hands for the tenth straight start via claim.
Driver George Napolitano Jr. (a six-time winner on the night) and trainer Hunter Oakes, the hottest team at Pocono, along with owner Northfork Racing Stable, were the winning connections behind the durable sidewheeler Saturday – in his next start, he'll have his third segment with Team Allard during this session of "roller-coaster claimer."
From the PHHA/Pocono Downs