Super Stakes Saturday was hyped as one of the biggest nights of the harness racing season at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, and it lived up to all that hype and then some. It was an odd night in that it was hot and humid yet windy, which made for a track bias that favored horses that were either on or very near the lead. In other words, speed ruled, and was there ever some speed on display on Saturday night.
A trio of huge stakes races featuring three-year-olds loomed large at the end of the program, but the undercard provided plenty of fireworks before we even reached the big three. Trainer Chris Oakes dominated that early action. In the $50,000 Hanover Shoe Farms Invitational for mares, Devil Child, trained by Oakes and driven by David Miller, scored an easy victory in a career-best 1:49:1.
That set the table for the stunning performance by Oakes' trotter Homicide Hunter in the $50,000 Sebastian K Invitational trot. The four-year-old gelding absolutely tore it up on the front end at 6-1 with George Napolitano Jr. in the bike to beat a ridiculously-talented field by four lengths. His winning time of 1:50:1 shattered a world record for his age group on a 5/8-mile oval.
Speaking of blistering times, Mel Mara laid down his own in an impressive victory in the $50,000 P.H.H.A Invitational pace. The seven-year-old stallion from the Dylan Davis barn has been overshadowed at times this year by some of the sport's superstars, but his performance on Saturday night with Corey Callahan in the bike earned him his own share of the spotlight. He blistered the track to hold off late-closing Luck Be Withyou, also trained by Chris Oakes, to win the P.H.H.A by a half-length in 1:47:2.
With the preliminaries over, the three-year-old fillies took the track for the $350,000 Valley Forge Pace. The division has been dominated for the last two years by Pure Country, with Darlinonthebeach always seemingly coming up short of Pure Country when it mattered most. But with Pure Country laboring from an outside post on Saturday night, Darlinonthebeach grabbed the lead and held on to it without much pressure. The filly from the Nancy Johansson barn smoked the field by 4¼ lengths in 1:49:3 with David Miller in the bike. Suddenly the sophomore pacing division is looking far more competitive than it did a few weeks ago.
Next up on the card was the $500,000 Colonial for three-year-old trotters, a race which featured the top six finishers from The Hambletonian, harness racing's signature race contested on August 6 at The Meadowlands. On that afternoon Marion Marauder made an impressive first-over charge to take the lead and held off Southwind Frank by a nose. On Saturday night Southwind Frank grabbed the lead and watched Marion Marauder gamely come at him first-over. But this would be no replay, as Southwind Frank, with Yannick Gingras in the bike for trainer Ron Burke, held tight by a half-length in 1:52:4 and gained a measure of revenge in the process.
Last up in terms of stakes races for the night was The Battle Of The Brandywine, a $500,000 event for three-year-old open pacers. The 1-2 betting favorite was Betting Line, who drew the inside post and looked to win his ninth consecutive race. In the time since they both lost to Betting Line in the North American Cup in Canada in June, Racing Hill and Control The Moment had picked up several monumental wins in the U.S. and were spoiling for a rematch.
But the return engagement was an even more decisive victory for Betting Line. The colt from the Casie Coleman barn simply overwhelmed his competition with David Miller in the bike to win in 1:47:2. That time set a new world record for three-year-old pacing colts on a 5/8-mile oval, breaking the mark of 1:47:3 laid down two years ago at Pocono by McWicked, another horse driven by Miller and trained by Coleman.
The world record was a fine exclamation point to an incredible evening of racing. We have been really lucky at Pocono in 2016 in that just about all of our major stakes races lived up to their billing. And, between Sun Stakes Saturday, Super Stakes Saturday, Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and everything else, we've had the opportunity to witness a large percentage of 2016's finest harness racing performers at the Pocono oval. The stakes season has truly been an embarrassment riches this year at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, and we still have plenty more to go.
That will do it for this week, but we'll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at jbeviglia@mohegansunpocono.com.
Jim Beviglia