The Pennsylvania-sired “glamour division,” the three-year-old pacing males, were featured in their first of two consecutive Sunday stops at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on May 14, contesting three $30,000 divisions of their Pennsylvania All-Stars event.
The fastest divisional winner, the Sweet Lou gelding Idiosyncratic, was also the only non-favourite to be victorious, taking a new mark of 1:50.3 as the 5-2 second choice. Simon Allard directed Idiosyncratic three-wide down the backstretch to loop a parked-the-mile horse, then kept going in the stretch to catch Mamba, who had gone fractions of :26.4, :54.1 and 1:22.1 under pressure, by three-quarters a length. Favoured Stay Grounded shuffled back then closed for third. Ron Burke trains Idiosyncratic, a winner of half his 12 seasonal starts who lowered his mark from The Meadows last week by a tick, for Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.
Favoured sons of Captaintreacherous took the other two cuts -- one easily, one not so easily. The Brett Pelling-trained Command gradually worked from post eight by Todd McCarthy, wearing the colours of owners Diamond Creek Racing, and took command. He posted splits of :27.2, :56 and 1:23.3. Hunters Hero swung wide from second-over and closed powerfully on the far outside at 30-1, but he was a nose shy in the 1:51.1 mile, with pocket-sitter Panettone Hanover just another nose shy of taking it all.
Perhaps the most impressive winner to the eye won in the slowest clocking of the three, 1:51.4. Ken Hanover, coming off a 1:49.4 Meadows sire stakes win, was the overwhelming choice and was driven by confidence by David Miller. He laid off early fractions of :27.2 and :57.1 before launching a steady uncovered bid well before the 1:24.3 three-quarters. Ken Hanover ate the ground until taking over late on the turn, then held off second-over Lyons Surfing by 2-1/4 lengths while pacing his own last half in :53.4. Trainer Polie Mallar and co-owners Patrick Leavitt, William Jordan, and Dennis Osterholt look to have themselves a national-caliber colt here.
Pocono will close out its racing week with 1 p.m. cards on Monday and Tuesday, with younger horses featured on Monday and sharing the spotlight with the track’s top claiming handicap trotters on Tuesday.
(PHHA / Pocono)