Stirling Debutant, 1-for-25 in two seasons of harness racing entering the 2016 campaign, completed a clean sweep of the Bobby Weiss Trotting Series for distaffs at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, taking all four preliminary legs and then romping to a 1:57.3 victory over sloppy going in the $30,000 series Championship on Tuesday night to keep her seasonal record unblemished after those five starts.
Stirling Debutant tucked third late on the first turn, then was moved uncovered by red-hot driver Anthony Napolitano before the half to gain on runaway leader Coherent, a maiden who had had gaiting problems but showed no misbehavior and much speed while posting an astounding 27.1 opening quarter over the offtrack, carrying on to the half in 56.4. But reality in the form of the 1-9 favorite set in late on the backstretch as Stirling Debutant cleared to the lead well before the 1:26.2 3/4s, coasting home to win by 12½ lengths over Squeals Of Delight, with Amorous Flirt, Coherent, and Baba Daba Do picking up the other checks in that order.
The chalkplayers, who had wagered $5165 of a $6708 win pool and $6139 of a $6861 show pool on the favorite, had a few anxious moments after the race, as driver Marcus Miller made an objection against Anthony Napolitano and Stirling Debutant, claiming that they had caused his charge Grandma Jan's Gems, who finished sixth, to go offstride around turn one. If the objection had been allowed, the maintenance department may not have had enough light bulbs for the increased demand from the tote board (Squeals Of Delight 39-1, Amorous Flirt 41-1, Coherent 40-1, Baba Daba Do 60-1), but after reviewing replays the judges let the finish under the wire stand as official.
A four-year-old daughter of Credit Winner, Stirling Debutant had been trained by Christie Collins for owners J M F Racing LLC in the four prelims, but in the week before the final she was purchased by the combine of Randy Bendis, Thomas Pollack, Jack Piatt II, and R. Lewis Hauber, and transferred to the barn of former Downs training leader Steve Salerno. And whatever technique the old team found to turn around Stirling Debutant, it continued in the Weiss Final for her new connections.
Finishing seventh and last in the Weiss Final was 7-1 second choice Ready Any Time, who made a break before the first turn. Her driver was David Miller, and the incident was about the only false step put in by a Miller-driven horse on Tuesday. David entered the night with $199,964,811 in career driving earnings, and was looking to join his fellow Hall of Famers John Campbell ($295.9M) and Ron Pierce ($215.3M) as the only members of the $200 Million Drivers Club.
In his pre-Weiss drives, Miller posted a 7-3-3-1 tally, good for $29,320, putting him at $199,994,131, and if his filly could have lived up to the morning line (and the tote board) and finish second in the $30,000 Weiss Championship, the $7500 check would have put Miller over his goal. Instead, the break took out his best chance at reaching the magic $200M number this night, and despite a second ($2125) and a third ($1020) in post-Weiss drives, he came up just shy, with Miller's nightly earnings $32,465 (10-3-4-2) and his career tally oh-so-close to getting him the keys to the club at $199,997,276 (in hand-kept records to be verified by the USTA). The native Buckeye will be taking his familiar purple and white colors (garnished with a reddish-brown on this card while racing over the sloppy oval) to Harrah's Philadelphia tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon, where the morning line projects him to earn over $8,000 and thus reaching the exclusive $200 Million Club and joining Campbell and Pierce.
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Pocono's next racing action will take place on Saturday; while the Thoroughbred world conducts its famous Kentucky Derby, Pocono will feature its only doubleheader program of the year. The first card of ten races is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.; the highlight of the sunshine racing will be three $30,000 divisions of a Pennsylvania All-Stars race for state-sired three-year-old trotting colts, headed by last year's two-year-old Sire Stakes champion, Lagerfeld, making his seasonal debut.
After the completion of the early card, the focus will go over to the runners until the Derby is conducted, and then a 14-race evening program will begin soon after the Derby is official, with an anticipated start of 7 p.m. Highlighting the nighttime action will be the inaugural edition of two races for the best Pennsylvania-sired three-year-old pacers, the $561,500 Pennsylvania Classic for males and the $313,800 Miss Pennsylvania for females.
The fields for these two races were decided by elimination races held last Saturday, with an open post draw for the finals. Driver Yannick Gingras handled both Classic elim winners for trainer Ron Burke, and he chose to go with the faster elimination winner, Check Six (1:50.4, post four, 5-2), with David Miller picked to guide JK Will Power (1:51.1, post three, 3-1).
Also a highlight of the evening card is the $50,000 Van Rose Memorial Invitational Pace, named after the late local harness writer, which brings together some of harness's best free-for-all pacers.
With final drivers and morning line odds announced today, here are the fields for the three Saturday night feature races (post – horse (driver) – morning line odds):
Race 6 — $50,000 Van Rose Memorial Invitational Pace
1 – Take It Back Terry (Matt Kakaley) – 4-1
2 – P H Supercam (David Miller) – 6-1
3 – Hall Bro (Brett Miller) – 20-1
4 – Luck Be Withyou (George Napolitano Jr.) – 10-1
5 – JK Endofanera (Yannick Gingras) – 5-1
6 – Rockeyed Optimist (Tim Tetrick) – 3-1
7 – Cooperstown (Anthony Napolitano) – 12-1
8 – Bushwacker (Jim Morrill Jr.) – 15-1
9 – Bit Of A Legend N (Andrew McCarthy) – 5-2
Race 11 — $313,800 Miss Pennsylvania Pace Final
1 – Ivy League (Yannick Gingras) – 6-1
2 – Newborn Sassy (Tim Tetrick) – 5-1
3 – Sail To The Beach (George Napolitano Jr.) – 12-1
4 – Darlinonthebeach (David Miller) – 5-2
5 – Call Me Queen Be (Scott Zeron) – 4-1
6 – Pure Country (Brett Miller) – 3-1
7 – I Said Please (Anthony Napolitano) – 15-1
8 – Save The Treasure (Jim Morrill Jr.) – 20-1
9 – I Said Diamonds (Matt Kakaley) – 10-1
Race 12 — $561,5000 Pennsylvania Classic Pace Final
1 – Big Top Hanover (Matt Kakaley) – 4-1
2 – The Catamount Kid (Jody Jamieson) – 6-1
3 – JK Will Power (David Miller) – 3-1
4 – Check Six (Yannick Gingras) – 5-2
5 – Lyons Snyder (Scott Zeron) – 5-1
6 – Western Dynasty (Tim Tetrick) – 15-1
7 – JJ Flynn (Brett Miller) – 12-1
8 – Duke Of Delray (Andrew McCarthy) – 20-1
9 – Manhattan Beach (Jim Morrill Jr.) – 10-1
PHHA / Pocono