Dilly Hanover went first-up to capture the $68,493 Bobby Weiss Series Championship for three-year-old male trotters on Monday, April 27 in a career-best 1:54.2 at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania. 

Captain Vodka (Ridge Warren) started from post seven and led the field through fractions of :27.2, :56.3, and 1:24.3, facing first-over pressure from Dilly Hanover (Braxten Boyd) from the half. He briefly relinquished the lead on the backstretch before battling back on the inside, and the two raced side-by-side on the final turn before Captain Vodka went off stride entering the stretch. Dilly Hanover then cruised clear to a 2-1/4-length victory over Confident Volo (Tyler Buter), who photoed out Nose Jammer (Andy Miller) for second.

Dilly Hanover, trained by Emily Bost, captured three of his four starts in the Weiss Series. Unraced as a two-year-old, the son of International Moni-Dornello has won four of five races overall this season and earned $69,984 for owners Bost, R K 4 Racing and Bruce Potter. Dilly Hanover, the slight 8-5 favourite over Confident Volo, who had won all three of his Weiss preliminaries, paid $5.20 to win.

The $27,397 Weiss consolation went to the Walner-Wind Stroll gelding King Of The Wind ($6.40) by 4-1/2 lengths in 1:57. Three early miscuers, including the favoirite, aided King Of The Wind, who brushed to command off the first turn and was not threatened home. Absent from the first Weiss prelim, a winner in the second, and a breaker in the last prelim, King Of The Wind was back on his game Monday for driver Anthony Napolitano, red-hot trainer Joe Bongiorno, and owner El Dorado Stables.

Raspalia N ($2.10), who was six-for-six Stateside before being photoed in 1:50 by Worklifebalance in her last start, turned in a 1:50 victory of her own in the $23,972 overnight conditioned feature for pacing distaffs. The daughter of Johny Rock-Fun Sponge, very distinctive in her red hood, earned a new continental mark while triumphing handily for driver Tyler Buter, trainer Agostino Abbatiello and owner Durazzano Stable LLC.

Drivers with multiple wins on the 14-race card were Anthony Napolitano with four, Braxten Boyd with three, and George Napolitano Jr. with two. Lou Pena was the only trainer to win twice.

The Weiss Series action winds up on the Tuesday 1 p.m. card at Pocono, with $50,000 USD championships for both gaits of fillies. The trotter Concise will attempt to become the only Weiss entrant to capture a final after winning in all three preliminaries, while the pace will be of a different makeup, with no entrant having captured two preliminaries, but six of the eight having taken one series prelim.

(PHHA/Pocono with files from USTA)