Former Horse of the Year Desperate Man continued to tune up for the stakes season ahead with a big mile during the qualifying session on Wednesday, March 19 at Pocono Downs.
Reunited with regular reinsman Matt Kakaley in the 10th qualifier on a warm pre-spring morning, the Travis Alexander-trained Desperate Man sat off the hot early pace in fourth through opening panels of :26.3 and :55 before advancing and tracking A Rocknroll Star's move to the lead through three-quarters in 1:23.1. Pacing home in :27.4, Desperate Man closed inside of A Rocknroll Star to prevail by three-quarters of a length in 1:51.1, marking the fastest mile of 18 qualifiers. Stone Hanover finished 3-1/2 lengths behind in third.
A career winner of 27 races and $1.9 million, the seven-year-old Shadow Play-Dreamlands Latte gelding followed up a 1:55 seasonal qualifying debut on March 8 at his winter base at Florida's Sunshine Meadows.
Owned by Kathy Cecchin of Arthur, Ont., Desperate Man is one of 42 pacers nominated to the MGM Borgata Pacing Series, which begins on Monday, March 31 at Yonkers Raceway. Last year, he went four-for-four in the series preliminary legs and finished third in the final to launch his best season since his sophomore campaign in 2021 when he won the $1 million North America Cup and was named Horse of the Year.
(Standardbred Canada)