It's a little bit hard to believe, but we are closing fast on the halfway point of the 2017 harness racing season at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. In our season of approximately eight months, we are just about four months in with four more to go. Let's hope that the downhill portion of the schedule has as many exciting weeks as this past one, with a great many horses and horsemen and women in the running for this edition of the Weekly Awards.
PACER OF THE WEEK: ALWAYS AT MY PLACE
On Saturday night at Pocono, rain started falling right at the start of the card and continued throughout the evening, so that a track that started out fast was eventually downgraded to good and finally bumped down even further to sloppy. That meant that the night's featured $20,000 condition pace would go off in the slop, but neither the weather nor the track condition could dampen the enthusiasm of Always At My Place to atone for his previous start.
In that previous race, the six-year-old gelding had been favored at 1-5 to win against the very same class at Pocono, but he made a rare break of stride at the start. Although he fought valiantly to get back in it, he could only reach fifth at the end of the mile after giving up so much ground at the beginning. On Saturday night, bettors gave him another chance as the 4-5 favorite, and Always At My Place did not disappoint.
With George Napolitano Jr. in the bike, Always At My Place set fractions that weren't for the faint of heart. None of the excellent field put any kind of a scare into him as he paced his own race on the front end. Amazingly, he rolled home 4½ lengths in front in 1:48:2, easily the fastest mile of the week at Pocono. One wonders what the time would have been had the race been contested on a fast track. Maybe next time, but for now Always At My Place has shaken off the break and is back at the top of his game.
Other top pacers this week include: Trevor Win For Us (George Napolitano Jr., Hunter Oakes), who has now won three in a row, with the last two coming at Pocono after a claiming victory on Saturday night in 1:53:2; Firefox Hanover (George Napolitano Jr., Christopher Freck), who came off a layoff of a month since his maiden win and still captured his second straight condition pace on Monday night in 1:54:3; and Vegas In Style (Eric Carlson, Gilberto Garcia-Herrera), a mare who won for the second straight time on Tuesday night and the third in her last four races, this time beating a condition field in 1:52:1.
TROTTER OF THE WEEK: POUNCE HANOVER
Something had to give in Monday night's featured claiming handicap trot for a purse of $14,000. Hyway Marcus shipped in having won his last three starts. What A Peach had won his previous race at Pocono in the very same class. But nobody had been performing any better coming in than Pounce Hanover. The seven-year-old gelding trained by Hunter Oakes came in with four consecutive victories, including the last two against the very same claiming handicap group he was facing on Monday.
All three of those stalwarts love to fly out on the front end. It wasn't meant to be for Hyway Marcus, who started slowly and was never a factor. But What A Peach and Pounce Hanover went after each other for the engine, both trying to establish a lead. Pounce Hanover ended up doing just that just past the three-eighths mile marker of the race, and driver George Napolitano Jr. was able to rate the pace well despite an early first-over attempt by talented mare Windsongmusclelady.
What A Peach lost ground to the leader and wasn't able to close the gap. Sarcastic Man did come on late but could only get to second, because Pounce Hanover was simply too tough to catch. The fifth consecutive victory for the gelding came in 1:55:1. He was able to control the race pretty effortlessly, which, against all those winners in the field, was quite an accomplishment, but one we're getting used to seeing out of this red-hot trotter.
Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Rose Run Parker (Matt Kakaley, Ron Burke), who returned to Pocono to capture Sunday night's $20,000 featured condition trot in 1:53; Wartech (Simon Allard, Robert Greenwood), who followed up a condition win at Harrah's with another at Pocono on Monday night in 1:56; and Rosesareexplosive (George Napolitano Jr., Linda Toscano), a filly who romped to her second straight condition victory on Tuesday night, this one coming in 1:56:1.
LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: ALEXANDRIA HANOVER
She was last at the half-mile marker, but this mare then began a rally with Simon Allard in the bike to shock a condition pacing group on Tuesday at 34-1, paying off $71.80 on a $2 win ticket.
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: ANTHONY MORGAN
The veteran driver filled in for Simon Allard to drive many of Rene Allard's trainees on Saturday night and performed well with a driving double.
TRAINER OF THE WEEK: MICHAEL DOWDALL
Dowdall sent out four starters total on Saturday and Sunday night at Pocono, and three of them came home winners, with the double coming on Saturday's card.
That will do it for this week, but we'll see you at the track. Feel free to email me at jbeviglia@mohegansunpocono.com.
Jim Beviglia