Matt Kakaley, the winningest driver at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania last year and already atop this year's standings with 12 triumphs over the first four cards, kept the hot hands during Wednesday morning’s marathon 15-race qualifying session, winning five times, including the two quickest outings with horses sent out by the 2023 meet’s leading trainer, Travis Alexander.
The Bettors Delight gelding Jacks Legend N, owned by Symmetry Stables LLC, came out of the pocket to edge by Im Sir Blake A (pictured above) by a half-length in a 1:54.1 mile that featured back fractions of :55.4 - :27.4. Both of these horses may be pointing towards the MGM Borgata Series at Yonkers, where Jacks Legend N won two preliminaries last year and Im Sir Blake A was victorious in the consolation.
The 2021 Messenger Pace winner, American Courage, went wire-to-wire in winning a 1:54.4 qualifier that featured a last quarter of :27.2. The son of American Ideal is owned by Fiddler’s Creek Stables LLC.
Kakaley’s other three winners during the qualifiers came behind horses trained by Jenny Melander, who conditioned four of this morning session’s winners, all trotters.
(PHHA / Pocono)