Straight Talk and Mad Man Hill are now 2-for-2 in the Bobby Weiss Series for sophomore pacing males after four $17,500 second round prelims were held Saturday afternoon at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
Straight Talk was one of two Sweet Lou-sired winners trained by Ron Burke to take Weiss divisions; the colt left the field behind with a :26.4 third split under the direction of Matt Kakaley en route to taking a lifetime best of 1:51.4 for Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, William Switala and James Martin. The other Burke Brigade member to win was the gelding Emblaze Hanover, who bounced back from a break in the first leg to also reduce his mark to 1:51.4 for driver Joe Bongiorno and the partnership of Burke Racing Stable LLC, Dr. Bridgette Jablonsky, Jason Melillo, and J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby.
The Somebeachsomewhere colt Mad Man Hill, the only Weiss chalk to get home first, is perfect after two trips behind the gate this year as he came home in :55.4 to tie his mark of 1:52.4 for driver George Napolitano Jr., who had five winners on the card, trainer Chris Ryder, and owner Tom Hill. The fastest Weiss winner was the American Ideal colt Trevors Ace, who lowered his speed badge by four seconds as he impressed in 1:51 for driver Jason Bartlett, trainer Jean Drolet, and the ownership of Stephen Schneider, Bill Siegel, and Marthe Drolet.
Babes Dig Me recorded the fastest mile of the season at Pocono when he posted a lifetime 1:49.4 best as he joined up with trainer Darren Taneyhill and owner Eric Provost after a claim. Jim Pantaleano sent the pacer zooming to the lead late on the backstretch around hard-used frontenders and had no problem in the latter stages.
Another non-Weiss race deserves mention because it created some unusual numeric situations. Rockin Inthe Hills, who had been placed first at a $174.00 win mutuel two starts back, again didn’t get much respect in his first start after a claim by trainer Dan Maier – and he came up the inside to win in 1:51.2 and return $51.80, becoming the first horse to pay $50+ twice this year.
Also, the four-year-old American Rebel became the largest-priced claim in Pocono history, as owner William Emmons gave $50,000 to lead him back to the barn after the race. In all, twelve claims during the card produced $316,000 changing hands, sending the seasonal claiming total over $5 million via 275 transactions. (This was card 24.)
The trotting males take over the Weiss spotlight for Sunday’s twilight card, with four $17,500 divisions of their second preliminary round. Post time Sunday is 5 p.m.; program pages will be available on the PHHA website.
(PHHA / Pocono)