Pocono Downs at Mohegan Sun Pennsylvania will be welcoming the trotters and pacers back to the northeast Pennsylvania oval for its 58th season in the next couple of weeks.
Qualifiers will be drawn this Friday, Feb. 10 and will take place on Monday, Feb. 13. There will be a 90-day entry rule in place at the start of the Pocono meeting.
The Downs will quickly shift into full gear next week. On Monday, Feb. 13, the first draw of the season will take place for the intial 2023 card the following Saturday, Feb. 18. It will also be declaration day for a set of qualifiers to be held the next day, Tuesday, Feb. 14.
On Tuesday, Feb 14, the qualifiers mentioned just above will take place and it will also be draw day for the second seasonal card, to be held on Sunday, Feb. 19.
The last nomination day for promising three-year-olds to declare for the Bobby Weiss Series is Wednesday, Feb. 15. The series starts its preliminaries on Saturday, April 8 and races through to its championships on the four days starting April 29. Any questions about Pocono racing can be directed to Rick Kane, Director Of Racing, at 570-831-2127.
Live racing begins on Saturday, Feb. 18 and Sunday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m.
Pocono’s post time will be at 1 p.m. throughout February and March. The only change for the season after that will come on Sundays in April through August, when first post will be 6 p.m.
The popular Game Of Claims Series will get underway on Saturday, March 4. Horses of various claiming prices (and gaits) will compete in Game Of Claims events through March and April.
The Pennsylvania-sired stakes season begins on Sunday, May 7 with a Pennsylvania All-Stars event. The first PA Sire Stakes and Stallion Series at Pocono will be on Sunday, May 21. This year, Pocono will host the $252,000 championships for all four of the two-year-old divisions on Saturday, Sept. 2.
Two weeks before that, Pocono will present its premier card of the season, the $2 million+ Sun Stakes Saturday, with the finest three-year-olds coming to The Downs and racing in a main event and consolations based on seasonal earnings. There will also be $100,000 Invitationals for older horses on both gaits on the Sun Stakes Saturday card.
The Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes Championships return to Pocono for the first time in 16 years on Monday, Oct. 9. Right behind the Fair finals, the John Simpson Sr. Memorial Stakes series will offer competition for all two- and three-year-old divisions from Oct. 16-21.
(With files from PHHA/Pocono)