It doesn’t happen very often that the words, “on the entire card, no horse with the lead turning into the backstretch was able to hold on to the wire” appear in a summary story from Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, but such was the case on Tuesday, March 18, as closers captured to entirety of the afternoon card.
In a featured $15,714 overnight trot, One After Nine made the early lead and forced a tuck, but then let two horses go in the second stanza. Stalking from that positioning, the victorious Andover Hall gelding moved out to challenge near the top of the stretch, and in a three-horse photo beat out Cassius Hanover and Optrix, respectively, in 1:55 for driver Jim Pantaleano, trainer Laura Angle and owners Howard and Joshua Kauffman.
There were no fewer than 11 $12,857 divisions of the second prelim of the Game Of Claims Pacing Series for horses valued at $17,857 this week, and two of them added a second series tally to their wins last week. The fastest Game Of Claims winner this week, Captain Terminator, went 1:52.4 for driver Jim Marohn Jr., but if he is going to make it three-for-three, he’ll be doing it for another barn, as he was claimed again this week.
The other doubler, Stick With Cramer, managed to avoid being claimed last week, but this week he will be another to find himself in new surroundings after pulling driver Braxten Boyd to one of his three series wins, here in 1:53.2.
Boyd also swept the Early Double, first winning with series debutante Split Pot in 1:54.4, and then coming right back with Texas Miki, third last week and a 1:54.1 visitor to Victory Lane.
George Napolitano Jr. also notched three sulky successes on the day, with two coming in the Game Of Claims: with Southwind Dredge, claimed while finishing second in the first round and paying immediate dividends on the investment in 1:53.3, and with Cards A Flyin, who overcame a hard journey while stopping the timer in 1:54.1.
Cards A Flyin and Split Pot were joined as winners by four other first-time competitors in this Game Of Claims series, many dropping down from higher claiming levels and finding the company more to their liking. The victorious first-time starters in this company, who like the two already named can’t go in the series finale ($17,500 USD on April 1) because they didn’t start in all three legs, were: The Cruz (driver Matt Kakaley) in 1:53.3, Yonkers invader Forever Fav (Jim Pantaleano) in 1:53, and a pair of winners for driver Tyler Buter: Snap Test in 1:54 and Colonel Bayama in 1:53.2.
The 11th winner was Hashtag Money, who tired in the first Game Of Claims round but got the job done on Tuesday in 1:54 for driver Simon Allard while paying the most of all the series winners, $35.60.
The next card of racing at Pocono is on Saturday, March 22 at 1 p.m., with carryovers galore for those “following the money” -- in the first race Superfecta, in the Pick 5 starting in race five, and in the last race High 5, this one a double carryover.
(With files from PHHA / Pocono Downs)