As we get set to round out the month of August, it's a good time to remind you that the harness racing schedule changes slightly in the month of September at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. Beginning in September, Monday racing will begin with a first post time of 4:30 PM, two hours earlier than usual. So keep that in mind as we approach that milestone on the calendar. In the meantime, the finest of this past week in August are on display in this edition of the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: FIRST CLASS HORSE
Last year as a four-year-old, this stallion trained by Tracy Brainard had his finest season yet, earning over $134,000 in a six-victory season. He started this year out in tough against Open handicap pacers at Yonkers, failing to hit the board in his first four races of the year. Then came a long layoff, as First Class Horse stayed off the track from March 4 until July 29, a span of nearly five months away from racing.
When he returned for a start at Pocono, he looked predictably rusty, finishing last in a $20,000 condition pace. After a second-place finish the following week in which he looked more like his old self, First Class Horse handled a $14,000 condition pacing group on August 12 in 1:50. He was back at it on Saturday night in $16,500 condition pace, facing an outside post in a field of seven and a sloppy track. But driver Tom Jackson didn't concern himself with any of that, sending his charge to the front end and daring everyone else in the field to play catch-up.
By the time they reached the back stretch, First Class Horse had opened up a double-digit lead on the rest of the field. That's because his fractions on the sloppy track were simply too hot for the rest to handle. He was able to gear it down and come home a winner as a 7-2 third betting choice in 1:49:4, which was a new career mark despite the slop. With two exceptional miles back-to-back, First Class Horse is living up to his name all over again.
Other top pacers this week include: Beach Boogie (Simon Allard, Rene Allard), a three-year-old gelding whose victory in a condition pace in a career-best 1:51:2 on Sunday night gave him three straight wins, two of which have come at Pocono; Blue Moon Stride (David Miller, Mark Harder), who captured Sunday night's featured condition pace for mares in a career-best 1:49:1, which also doubled as the fastest pacing time of the week at Pocono; and Americanprimetime (George Napolitano Jr., Rick Dane Jr.) who shipped in from Yonkers and captured Saturday night's featured condition pace in 1:49:4 in the slop.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: CAN I SAY
For the most part, the only time you'll two different genders battling on a harness racing track would be in an aged trotting race. Those races give mares the opportunity to test the waters against older male trotters. For the past two races, Can I Say, an eight-year-old mare trained by Doug Berkeley, has been the only distaff trotter facing off against eight other male horses. And she has found these fields much to her liking, as her two-race winning streak would indicate.
On August 12, she battled her way up from an outside trip to pull off an upset win against a $14,000 condition trotting group in 1:54, scoring at 29-1. Can I Say returned to action on Saturday night against an even tougher group, this time going off at 9-2 odds in a $16,500 race. With an inner half post this time around, driver Anthony Morgan decided he wanted to control matters on the front end with the mare, so she grabbed the early lead.
For the bulk of the mile, Can I Say had Wisenheimer lurking right behind her in the pocket. But the mare was able to locate and ignite the afterburners in the home stretch, winning by a margin of 1¼ lengths. The winning time of 1:53:1 matched her career-best. Now with two in a row under her belt, Can I Say is one mare that no other trotter, regardless of gender, wants to see in their field.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Broadway Jo Ell (Jim Marohn Jr., Jim Campbell), a mare who followed up a victory at Yonkers with another at Pocono on Sunday night in 1:56:4; Patent Leather (David Miller, Jim Campbell), who posted the fastest mile in three divisions of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes on Sunday night for two-year-old trotting colts and geldings with a win in 1:54:2; and Keystone Apache (Marcus Miller, Erv Miller), whose winning time of 1:56:3 in the slop on Monday night was the fastest of seven divisions of the Stallion series for two-year-old colts and geldings on the trot.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: WARTECH
After breaking stride in his last race, this trotter with Tim Tetrick in the bike rebounded on Monday night to win a claiming handicap trot at 19-1, paying $41 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: DAVID MILLER
To say Miller loved Sunday night's Pennsylvania Sire Stakes races at Pocono for two-year-old trotting colts and geldings would be an understatement; he swept all three divisions as part of a five-win night.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: JIM CAMPBELL
Campbell picked up two Sire Stakes victories among his three Sunday night training wins, which came at odds of 11-1, 7-1 and 9-1.
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