Matt Kakaley, the youngest driver in harness racing history to surpass 1,000 wins, will begin a new chapter in his life when Pocono Downs opens its 2010 live meet
Tuesday, March 23.
First-race post time is 6:30 p.m.
It won’t be an easy task for Kakaley -- whose home town is Streetsboro, Ohio -- when he takes to the racetrack to challenge the likes of Jim Morrill, Jr., Joe Pavia, Jr., Mike Simons, Anthony and George Napolitano, Jr., Tom Jackson, Larry Stalbaum on a nightly basis, and occasionally drivers like Jason Bartlett, Eric Goodell, David Miller, Yannick Gingras and Tim Tetrick.
Pocono Downs will host live racing on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings through May 31 when Fridays are dropped and Monday evenings added for the months of June, July and August.
At the Pompano Park winter meet, the soft-spoken and quiet mannered Kakaley collected 61 wins from 500 drives and purses totaling $390,000.
His only training commitment thus far at Pocono Downs has come from Ron Burke, leading trainer in North America in 2009. Kakaley understands it may take some time before he’s fully established as a catch driver at the Northeastern Pennsylvania racetrack.
He’s scheduled to drive in several races on opening night. One of those catch drives will be aboard the Al Pellegrini-trained Langside Castaway. Another is aboard Burke-trained Gracie Lynn.
Morrill, Jr., Pocono Downs' top percentage driver in 2009, really likes the way the 22-year-old Kakaley handles himself, both on and off the track.
“He’s a good kid with a great attitude and he can drive a horse,” Morrill, Jr. offered. “I raced against him at Tioga and Buffalo. He’s a confident young driver and by no means cocky.
“We do have a great colony of drivers at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs and Matt (Kakaley) will be a great addition.”
(With files from Pocono)