The four-year-old Credit Winner gelding Winning Shadow worked out a sweet pocket trip, then rallied up the famed Pocono Pike to win in 1:55.1 in the $21,500 featured trot Sunday evening, March 31 at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
Matt Kakaley, guiding his fourth winner of the night, blasted away at the start with Winning Shadow, making the lead but then let 2-5 favourite Trolley work his way to the top past a :28 quarter. Behind Trolley was Chestnut Schofeld, who set big fractions in his PcD debut last week, and that foe went up to challenge the chalk to the :56 half.
Through the backstretch Trolley retained the lead but could not shake off the persistent challenge of Chestnut Schofeld neither before the 1:25.1 three-quarter nor around the final turn. Meanwhile Kakaley and Winning Shadow shadowed the pacesetter from the pocket and awaited inside clearance, which the pair found in early stretch and utilized to finish one-and-a-quarter lengths ahead of the dead-game Chestnut Schofeld. Two Am, locked behind horses until almost midstretch, angled wide and closed well for third ahead of Trolley, who paid too high a fare for controlling the pace.
Winning Shadow was making his second start of the year after posting nine wins and a mark of 1:52.3 in 2018. Ron Burke trains the speedy trotter for Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, and J&T Silva – Purnel & Libby.
The $17,000 co-featured trot saw the Muscle Hill gelding Muscle Fashion successfully handle a multi-level jump in company, winning in 1:56.1. Muscle Fashion returned off a two-month layoff at the start of the Pocono meet and has posted two wins and a second in quick order, here making a quick brush down the backstretch to the lead and withstanding Girl Talk, who was on his back, by one-and-a-half lengths for owner/trainer Antonella Galie.
George Napolitano Jr. has been “in the driving zone” recently. He matched Kakaley’s four wins on the Pocono card. The quartet gave him ten sulky successes on the day, following the six he posted in the afternoon at Harrah’s Philly; it raised his Friday-Sunday “weekend win” total to 17; and it raised his 2019 Pocono total to 23 after only seven nights of racing.
(PHHA)