Nobody told Mother Nature that The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono was having one of its biggest harness racing cards of the season last Saturday night.
Heavy rain pummeled Northeastern Pennsylvania starting in the wee hours of Saturday morning, and it was still going strong by the time the elimination races for Sun Stakes Saturday had come to a completion.
As a result, the track was plenty sloppy as some of the world's best horses stopped by in the hopes of making it through to the big-money Sun Stakes finals on the Fourth of July.
Elimination races are always a tricky bit of business because, while everybody wants to win, the most important thing is securing that spot in the lineup when those purses go rocketing skyward.
So, considering the slop and the strategizing, the results we saw Saturday might not have all that much bearing on what occurs in the Finals.
But it still made for a memorable night of racing, one featuring some unexpected outcomes and many stellar performances.
Here is a division-by-division look at what went down.
JAMES M. LYNCH MEMORIAL PACE (3-YEAR-OLD FILLIES)
This felt like the most wide-open field going into the eliminations, and Saturday's races didn't provide a ton of clarity.
We do know that JK She'salady, who dominated the division a year ago, won't be around for the finals, as her recent struggles continued with a 5th-place finish in her elimination.
Instead. The Show Returns wheeled out 3-wide with John Campbell in the bike to come up for a mild upset win in the division containing JK She'salady.
Speaking of mid-priced upsetters, Momas Got A Gun wore down favored Divine Caroline for a win in her split at 6-1.
The only favorite to hold form was Stacia Hanover, who controlled matters on the front end to win with Scott Zeron in the bike.
As further proof of just how tight these fillies are heading into the finals, all three winners came home in the slop in identical times of 1:51:3.
MAX C. HEMPT MEMORIAL PACE (3-YEAR-OLDS)
Most of the top competitors in the eliminations came right from the North American Cup finals held on June 20 at Mohawk.
Wakizashi Hanover, who sprung a mild upset to win that race in Canada, used a pocket seat to win his elimination in 1:50:4 with Tim Tetrick in the bike.
The horse he surprised at Mohawk, Wiggle It Jiggleit, righted his ship after the first loss of his career, handling his split with ease for driver Montrell Teague in 1:50:1.
And Artspeak outdueled In The Arsenal in the final division by a head in 1:50; those two horses finished fifth and fourth in the North American Cup.
Certainly everyone will be watching for a rematch between Wakizashi Hanover and Wiggle It Jiggleit in the final, and the draw for post position will be all-important, since those two appear to be evenly matched.
EARL BEAL JR. MEMORIAL TROT (3-YEAR-OLDS)
The night's biggest upset occurred when Pinkman, who was the 2-year-old divisional champ and had won three straight Pennsylvania Sire Stakes races to start 2015, was upended at the line by the late charge of Wicker Hanover, a 16-1 shot with Andrew McCarthy in the bike.
In the first Beal split, heavy favorite Habitat made an early break, opening the door for Cruzado Dela Noche to come up first-over and surprise for the win in 1:53:3.
Uncle Lasse won a showdown with Crazy Wow in the final division in a battle of odds-on horses.
Trainer Jimmy Takter will have Uncle Lasse and an angry Pinkman in the final, so he'll most likely have a big say in the matter.
But the preliminaries show that you can't take anything for granted, especially when horses as talented as Wicker Hanover can get away at such long odds.
BEN FRANKLIN FREE-FOR-ALL PACE (OPEN)
The two eliminations provided a fascinating study on how races can be won in a variety of ways.
In the first elimination, Luck Be Withyou, who had suffered a disappointing break of stride while leading his previous stakes race at Northfield, decided to give it another go on the engine on Saturday night.
With George Napolitano on the bike, the 4-year-old stallion busted to the lead from the #8-hole and never looked back, hustling home to win in 1:50.
In the second split, State Treasurer, a 6-year-old stallion who campaigns in Canada, had to deal with the dreaded outside #9 post.
Driver David Miller stayed patient, even with his horse sitting last fifth-over at the three-quarter pole.
Around the final turn he wheeled State Treasurer to the outside and the stallion blew by everybody for a last-to-first victory in 1:50:3.
Most of the top aged pacers are headed to the final, including Foiled Again, the sport's all-time top earner who snuck in based on having the faster fifth-place finishing time of the two divisions.
Saturday's final should be a donnybrook for the ages.
With the eliminations in our rear-view, all that's left to do is look forward to the Fourth of July finals.
Trust me, the on-track action on Sun Stakes Saturday will provide all the fireworks you'll need.
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