Todd Schadel, the leader in UDR and UTR in North America last year in the 300-499 starts category, notched a career milestone win on Monday, Feb. 17 at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, scoring his 2,000th sulky success as his Internationalcraze won the featured trot in 2:00.3.
The card was the 2025 debut for Pocono after the Saturday, Feb. 15 cancellation.
Over a 'good' track on a bitterly cold day with a strong stretch headwind, causing the variant to go from “+1” to “+2” to “+3” in time for the day’s two feature races, Schadel and the winning International Moni four-year-old gelding were not to be denied, moving before the :30 quarter and passing the next poles in 1:00.3 and 1:30.2 en route to a three-length victory in the $21,127 contest. Internationalcraze, who was the first 2:00 trotter in Butler Fair history this past summer after going exactly 2:00, is co-owned by trainer/driver Schadel and his wife Christine along with Rick and Regina Beinhauer.
The top purse of the day was the $23,944 bounty offered for developing distaff pacers, and the well-traveled Sweet Lou mare Louisville GB regained her winning ways with a 1:57.3 victory. Louisville GB, who had won her four previous starts before a hard-luck fourth last time, was four-wide early, then set into high gear past a :28.3 to make the lead and put up middle splits of :58.3 and 1:27.3 en route to a 2-1/4 length victory. The Robert Cleary trainee, owned by Kenneth Jacobs, was guided by Tyler Buter, who tied with George Napolitano Jr. for opening day honours with three driving triumphs.
Pocono has racing scheduled for this Saturday and Monday, the 22nd and 24th, at 1 p.m. The Saturday card will find the Game Of Claims Series for pacers valued at $25,000 USD race the first of their three preliminaries, eight divisions strong, after losing the original initial leg to the cancellation this past Saturday; these horses will race three $17,000 USD preliminaries, trying to earn their way into the $35,000 USD Championship, now slated for Saturday, March 15. There will also be a $25,000 USD fast-class pacing feature on the Saturday card.
(PHHA / Pocono)