In a classic stretch slugfest, the Sweet Lou gelding Tito Rocks nosed out Whos Better in 1:50.4 to win the $14,000 fast-class pace at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Saturday afternoon (March 27).

Tito Rocks got away fourth for driver Tyler Buter, while Whos Better and George Napolitano Jr. took the early lead and set fractions of :27.1 and :55.2. Buter had Tito Rocks quickly in high gear and moving first over nearing the five-eighths, with the 9-5 favourite pacing his individual third quarter in :26 to engage 2-1 pacesetter Whos Better past the three-quarters in 1:22.2. Their battle continued all the way to the wire, where Tito Rocks proved slightly more photogenic for trainer Robert Cleary and Royal Wire Products Inc.

Another highlight of the Saturday card was the return to the races of the Somebeachsomewhere gelding Nicholas Beach, who made short work of a group of developing pacers with a 1:51.1 tally for driver Joe Bongiorno, trainer Jennifer Bongiorno, and his new connections of the Jennifer Bongiorno Stable LLC, John Lengacher, and Michael Cote Gagnon. Various misfortunes had limited the now-five-year-old to 13 starts in his first three years of racing, but he won 11 of them and took a mark of 1:49 at Philly last year.

Before Nicholas Beach’s win Saturday, his lifetime earnings were $70,450–less than the $71,680 seasonal total of the Changeover gelding Glengarry Knight N, who jumped to the No. 2 spot in earnings among North American pacers at press time with a 1:52 win in the fastest of three divisions for the high-end claiming pacers. Now three-for-four since joining the William Adamczyk barn after a claim by William Emmons, Glengarry Knight N, the winner of the richest Game Of Claims Championship earlier this year, overcame post 9 for driver Simon Allard, who led the driving colony here Saturday with three wins.

Heading the Saturday trainers was Darren Taneyhill, who visited "Victory Lane" after three different drivers guided his horses to victory (and would have been there a fourth time if one of his horses hadn’t had headstretch steering problems and was set back, with $174.00 bomber Rockin Inthe Hills the main beneficiary). Taneyhill, who is now tied with Jennifer Bongiorno for the meet lead with 12 wins, also sent the fastest winner of the day: the Rocknroll Hanover gelding Rock The Town, who toured the Pocono oval in 1:50.3 for driver Anthony Napolitano and owner Mark Jakubik.

The next two cards at Pocono, Sunday (March 28) at 5 p.m. (EDT) and Monday (March 29) at 12:30 p.m. (EDT), feature many three-year-olds tuning up for the $700,000 Bobby Weiss Series for up-and-coming three-year-olds of both sexes and gaits. Monday’s card also features the $30,000 Game Of Claims Trotting Series Championship. Program pages are available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.

(PHHA/Pocono)