It feels like we are just about coming to the end of the introductory phase of the 2017 harness racing season at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. Next week in this column we'll be detailing the Bobby Weiss late closer series finals, a series that dominated much of the season's first month. Following that, the big races start coming at us fast and furious, so quick that we'll barely be able to catch our collective breath. This past week's racing excitement was no slouch either, as evidenced by the outstanding performances garnering Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: HIGHALATOR
Speaking of the Weiss series, this three-year-old colt trained by Jenny Bier seemed ready to dominate his male pacing group after winning the first two legs. And why not? Those two wins made it seven in a row this year for the colt, with major success at Dover and The Meadowlands included in that streak. Yet the handlers of Highalator kept him out of the third leg of the Weiss and then opted to race him on Sunday night against a non-winners of five grouping for a different kind of test.
Highalator likes to do much of his damage on the front end, and sure enough on Sunday his regular driver Victor Kirby put him on the engine from the #5 post in a field of nine as the 1-5 favorite. Yet he was pressured for much of the mile, as Nox Vegas Blue Chip went at him hard on the back stretch with a first-over move while Max Is Back sat tight behind him in the pocket.
Yet one thing that fans have noticed about Highalator is this ability to get away from pursuit. The colt powered away from his closest foes and ended up coming home to the victory by 1½ lengths in an unhurried 1:53. That makes it eight wins in a row, with the last three coming at Pocono. His next stop is anybody's guess, but the bottom line is that you don't want to be facing this piping hot pacer right about now.
Other top paces this week include: Avenue Hanover (Simon Allard, Rene Allard), who fired off his third consecutive claiming handicap victory on Saturday night, this one coming in 1:51:4; Major Uptrend (Anthony Morgan, Tim Crissman), who followed up three straight wins at Dover with a victory in Saturday night's featured $25,000 condition pace in 1:50, the fastest pacing time of the week at Pocono; and Cheap N Easy (George Napolitano Jr., Gilberto Garcia-Herrera) a mare who switched from the condition races to conquer a claiming handicap group on Monday night in 1:53:1 for her fourth straight win, three of which have come at Pocono.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: QUEENS LONELY EARL
Sometimes the manner in which a horse wins can be just as impressive as whom it beats. Take the case of Queens Lonely Earl, a veteran nine-year-old gelding trained by Mark Goldberg. As he lined up from post position #5 in a field of nine on Monday night as the even-money favorite in a handicap trot with claiming prices ranging from $10,000 to $12,500, he did so in the wake of the night's dominant racing trend: five out of the six races to that point in the card had been won by horses sitting in the pocket behind the pacesetter.
That could have been problematic for Queens Lonely Earl, who had won his previous start at The Meadows by going down the road and winning in gate-to-wire fashion in 1:57. Yet he didn't try to change his style this time around. Driver Matt Kakaley sent him to the front end, where he controlled the pace without letting the fractions get too chaotic.
Bootswiththefur was the pocket horse, but Queens Lonely Earl left him behind in the stretch. Jessica Lar Bar did make some noise with a furious late charge, but it wasn't enough to get to the pacesetter. Kakaley guided him home for the victory in 1:56, his second straight and fourth overall on the year. With the win, Queens Lonely Earl proved that even seemingly foolproof trends can be broken by an excellent performance.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Caulfield (Anthony Napolitano, Andrew Harris), who shipped in from Yonkers on Saturday night to win a condition in 1:54:3; Crazshana (Eric Goodell, Jeffrey Bamond Jr.), who came back from six months off to beat a tough condition field on Saturday night in 1:55:1; and Checkmate Time (John Campbell, Dennis Laterza), who won a Weiss series race for distaff trotters in 1:53:3, a new career-best and the fastest trotting time of the week at Pocono in what was the filly's first start of the season.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: ICY CRYSTALS
This trotting filly had a memorable maiden victory on Sunday night with Marcus Miller in the bike, lighting up the tote board at 30-1 for a $63.60 payoff on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: DAVID MILLER
Miller's two wins on Monday night came aboard Braley Hanover and Talent Soup, who shared honors for the night's fastest pacing time, each scoring victories in 1:51:1.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: GILBERTO GARCIA-HERRERA
It has been a blistering start to the meet for the Garcia-Herrera barn, with a training double on Monday providing more example of his early excellence.
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