The Kentucky Derby held the spotlight in the world of thoroughbred racing last Saturday night, and understandably so. But it was The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono that put on the best harness racing show of the evening, with three outstanding stakes races highlighting a day-night doubleheader of Standardbred action. Let’s take a look at how those big three races went down.
VAN ROSE MEMORIAL
For this $50,000 Invitational pace named in honor of a longtime Wlikes-Barre area sportswriter with a special affinity for harness racing, the Van Rose once again attracted some of the top aged pacers in the world. Bit Of A Legend N was coming off a dominant performance in the Levy at Yonkers, but he was never really a factor from the #9 post position. Rockeyed Optimist, winner of six of eight Opens this year in Jersey and Delaware, also got caught in the back of the pack early and could only get to fourth as an even-money favorite.
Two-million plus earner JK Endofanera fared better, starting fast and setting the pace into the deep stretch. But right behind him all race lurked Luckbewithyou, reigning Pocono Pacer of the Year after a 2015 season which included a stunning victory in the Ben Franklin pace. As JK Endofanera struggled to hold together, driver George Napolitano Jr. revved up Luckbewithyou, the five-year-old stallion from the Chris Oakes barn, for a late charge, which ended up in a victory by a neck in 1:48:4. Considering it was just his second start of the year and that he had finished sixth in his first, the result may have seemed surprising. But anyone who’s watched this horse at Pocono knows that luck has nothing to do with the success of Luckbewithyou when he’s on his home track.
MISS PENNSYLVANIA
The old adage says that you learn more from defeat than you do from victory. If that’s true, then Pure Country hardly knew anything heading into last week’s elimination for the inaugural $313,800 Miss Pennsylvania for three-year-old pacing fillies. After all, her two-year-old season featured ten wins in ten races and concluded with a Breeders Crown championship. But last week was a different story. After leading for most of the mile in her first start of the season, the Jimmy Takter trainee found herself defenseless to a late charge by Darlinonthebeach and suffered her first ever loss.
In the rematch in Saturday’s final, driver Brett Miller chose a different tactic with Pure Country, letting her stay back in the middle of the pack early while Darlinonthebeach hustled out to the front end. The fractions were steep and Pure Country began her move first over on the back stretch. Despite getting no help from any cover and having to make up several lengths, she eventually corralled a tiring Darlinonthebeach at the top of the stretch. From there she slipped past and held off the closers to win by a length in a new career-best time of 1:50:3. So maybe she learned something after all from that first loss a week ago. With her talent, don’t go expecting her to lose very many more in the near future.
PENNSYLVANIA CLASSIC
When you are in a barn that has as much talent as the barn belonging to trainer Ron Burke, it can be hard to really stand out. Check Six is a horse that would be the standout performer in almost any other barn in the country. In the Burke stable, he’s another in a long line of superstar performers. But performances like he’s been able to put together so far this year will certainly help him move to the front of the line. After a solid 2-year-old season, he made his 2016 debut with a sharp condition win at Harrah’s on April 24. He followed that up by winning an elimination last Saturday for the Pennsylvania Classic, a new $565,500 showcase for 3-year-old pacers at Pocono.
When he looked around the field for Saturday night’s final, he saw three other Burke trainees, including JK Will Power, who won the other elimination a week ago. And on his right at the post was Lyons Snyder, who went off as a slight favorite at 2-1. Check Six, guided by Yannick Gingras, didn’t seem fazed by any of the competition though. He made the lead around the first turn, and, thanks to a nice rating job by Gingras, he was ready for the inevitable charge of his stablemates JK Will Power and Big Top Hanover. Check Six hung tight and won by a neck in a new career mark of 1:50:3, sitting atop a Burke trifecta. It might be easy to overlook him considering all the talent by which he’s surrounded in his own stable, but Check Six is looking like he has the chance to be the premier 3-year-old in the entire country this year, and that would be a point of pride for any barn.
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