On Tuesday night at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Stirling Debutant, a winner only once in 25 starts at two and three, stamped herself as the firm favourite for next Tuesday’s $30,000 Championship of the Bobby Weiss Series for trotting females by taking a new mark of 1:55.1 in her fourth and final preliminary leg to post a quartet of victories in the prelims.

The Credit Winner mare, piloted by Anthony Napolitano for trainer Christie Collins and owner J M F Racing LLC, sat second while the speedy but still green Selfie Hanover cut hot fractions of :28 and :56.1 before going off stride coming off the second turn. Stirling Debutant, inheriting the lead, maintained control easily from there, winning by 3-1/4 lengths over Hot Curry, who came first-over to grab second away from South Side Hanover, who inherited the pocket after the break but who could not muster the needed speed and thus saw her own Weiss unbeaten streak stop at three.

Though South Side Hanover tasted defeat tonight, trainer/driver Todd Schadel did get to the Weiss winner’s circle, with the SJs Caviar filly Real Caviar rallying as the pocket rocket to post her second Weiss victory, here in 1:59.4. Squeals Of Delight, last week a $107 winner in defeating Real Caviar and heading a $919 exacta, set the pace this week but finished three-quarters of a length behind Real Caviar (the pair both went off at 9-5 this week). Schadel shares ownership in the winner with Dr. John Egloff.

In the other Weiss cut, Abbies Celticlass, second in his first Weiss start last week while adding trotting hopples, seems to developing quickly now, with the Explosive Matter filly breaking her maiden with a 5-1/4 length victory in 1:57.2 for driver David Miller, trainer Ken Hess, Jr., and owners Stop The Jade Farm LLC and Troyce Craig Thomas.

The trotters qualifying for next Tuesday’s Weiss Championship in this division are Stirling Debutant, South Side Hanover, Real Caviar, Squeals Of Delight, Abbies Celticlass, Ready Any Time, Keystone Taylor, Grandma Jans Gems, and Casino Cutie It.

Pocono next races on Saturday, with eliminations for May 7’s $561,500 Pennsylvania Classic for the best PA-sired three-year-old pacing colts and geldings and $313,500 Miss Pennsylvania for pacing fillies. The elims will feature last year’s respective Sire Stakes champions, Ideal Jimmy and Pure Country.

Sunday will see the first two $30,000 Championships in the Weiss Series action, with both pacing finals going that night. Among the males, no one was able to post three victories in the four preliminaries, but six horses won twice, and that event figures to be a slam-bang competitive affair from gate to wire. The complexion of the Weiss distaff event changed dramatically when Candy Corn Hanover and Some Fancy Filly, the only multiple prelim winners, opted to bypass the Weiss Final and take a shot at the big money in the Miss Pennsylvania eliminations, leaving Southwind Tango the likely Weiss choice.

(PHHA/Pocono)