Former Horse of the Year Desperate Man won his second straight qualifier at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Wednesday morning, March 6 as he prepares to launch his six-year-old campaign.
Owned by Kathy Cecchin of Arthur, Ont. and campaigned stateside by trainer Travis Alexander, Desperate Man was the fastest qualifying winner of the morning's session in 1:52.2 over the 'good' track.
Starting from outside five foes, the millionaire son of Shadow Play and driver Matt Kakaley landed in the pocket through a :28.3 opening quarter then looped to the lead and took the field to the half in :57.1. Desperate Man closed out the mile with back-to-back :27.3 panels to win by 1-1/2 lengths over early leader Brue Hanover from the Mickey Burke Jr. barn.
Desperate Man, who earned five of his eight wins at Yonkers Raceway last year, is listed among the eligibles for that track's MGM Borgata Pacing Series, which is set to kick off on March 18.
Fiddler's Creek Stables' homebred stakes winner Pleaseletmeknow, another Borgata eligible from the Alexander stable, also won his second qualifier of the season on Wednesday in an 8-3/4-length romp in 1:53.3, with his final quarter clocked in :27.2.
(Standardbred Canada)