Millionaire pacer Desperate Man was back in action on Wednesday morning, Feb. 28 at Pocono Downs, making a successful qualifying debut to launch his 2024 season after a winter break stateside.
With Matt Kakaley in the bike, Desperate Man led a trio of pacers over a sloppy track, setting fractions of :29.2, :59.3 and 1:27.2 before kicking home in :27.2 for the 3-1/2-length qualifying win in 1:54.4. Delightful Dude N and Bullville Stephano followed in the field scratched down to three.
Owned by Kathy Cecchin of Arthur, Ont., the 2021 Horse of the Year set an all-age Grand River Raceway track record of 1:50.1 last summer before heading stateside where he is being trained by Travis Alexander. The six-year-old Shadow Play-Dreamlands Latte gelding, who won five of his last seven starts of the 2023 season while racing at Yonkers Raceway, is eligible to the half-mile track's mid-March Borgata Pacing Series.
"We were very happy with his effort this morning," Alexander told Trot Insider. "Matt said he was extremely strong through the wire."
The Alexander-trained stakes winners Pleaseletmeknow (1:56.3), Downrightdelicious (1:56.4), Hunters Hero (1:55.2) and Layton Hanover (1:53.4), all owned in whole or part by the Florida-based Fiddlers Creek Stable, also made their season's debuts winning ones during the morning session. Layton Hanover, a five-year-old son of Captaintreacherous out of Livin Life, was the fastest winner of the 13 qualifiers in the finale.
(Standardbred Canada; Photo of Desperate Man in a previous win at Grand River Raceway)