Strutsville became the only three-year-old pacing filly to win all three of her preliminary legs of her Bobby Weiss Series grouping after she won her $27,778 division in 1:54 on a Saturday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania.
The track surface was re-rated several times due to brief alterations in the weather before the day cleared.
In her two earlier wins, Strutsville had led at every pole; here she let TH Summer Lovin grab the top before the quick :26.4 quarter (fast track but still seeming a couple of ticks below prime) before going to the lead and getting a :56.2 rest to the half. The price of pacing went up during the dash to the three-quarters in 1:24 as the 25-1 uncovered Cervi actually poked a nose ahead into the far turn, but Strutsville kept her gameness despite Cervi to her right the whole way and a slow-to-clear Albright (also previously two-for-two in the Weiss) narrowing the advantage with every step to her left, getting home a half-length ahead of Cervi and another neck ahead of Albright.
Ridge Warren guided the winning daughter of Huntsville-Strut My Stuff, as the 2023 Alberta Standardbred Horse Association Yearling Sale topper ran her record to three-for-four in 2025 and six-for-10 lifetime for trainer Ron Coyne Jr. and Alberta owners Nancy Retzlaff and Douglas Stout.
Sweet Odds also had the chance to have won three Weiss prelims before the $50,000 USD final on May 5, but after going along on the lead at a good clip over a “good” surface, she couldn’t sustain, with the pocket-sitting Lazarus N-Rockin Belle filly Shesgotthejack equalling her mark of 1:54.2 while defeating 39-1 shot Jordanna Hanover, last at the three-quarters, by half a length for driver Matt Kakaley, trainer Jacob Hartline and Anatolia Racing.
A filly who could be a top contender in the Weiss final is the Papi Rob Hanover-Arodasi miss Allegra Hanover. First in her series bow and then missing just a nose to Strutsville after a very rough trip last week, Allegra Hanover went first-up in her Weiss division and showed :55.3 finishing speed to win handily in 1:52.1 (fast track) for driver Dexter Dunn, trainer Gareth Dowse and owners Martin Valentic, T G Stable and Bill Boyce.
The In The Arsenal filly Defamation took her second straight victory in the Weiss with a two-move victory in a lifetime-best 1:53.1 with the track rated “sloppy.” Tim Tetrick had the driving assignment for trainer Jeffrey Smith and owners Joseph and Steven Williams.
Pocono also carded a $34,722 pace for fast-class horses in which the Bettors Delight-Somethinincredible gelding Always A Thrill returned to Pocono and yielded early command, then came back as a pocket rocket to win in 1:50.3 over a “fast” surface for driver Ridge Warren, trainer Nicholas Devita, and owner Eric Provost. Always A Thrill won two straight at Pocono before going to Yonkers Raceway and adding three more wins in succession; he then missed just a neck in the Hilltop Invitational class before regaining his winning ways at the northeast Pennsylvania oval.
On Monday, Pocono will feature the $50,000 USD championship of the Bobby Weiss Series for three-year-old trotting fillies and a carryover into the fifth race Pick-5 pool and the last race High 5 wager, while the Tuesday card will be headlined by the $35,000 USD championship of the Game Of Claims Trotting Series for horses who were base-priced at $20,000 USD. The next week, Sunday night cards at 6 p.m. will be added to the mix, joining the Saturday-Monday-Tuesday at 1 p.m. programming, as Pocono kicks off the schedule basically in use until just past Labour Day weekend.
(With files from PHHA/Pocono)