A trio of $15,000 events for horses which have not won four races — two on the trot, one for male pacers — headlined the Tuesday (May 29) card at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
First up was a trotting field, from which Yuge came away with a new mark of 1:54.1. Tom Jackson moved the Muscle Mass gelding to command in front of the stands and stayed in control from there for trainer Ed Lohmeyer, co-owner with Dr. Patricia Hogan and Ed Lohmeyer Jr.
The pacing event came between the two trots, and was won by the American Ideal gelding A Farmboys Success, who went wire-to-wire while clocking a personal best of 1:52.2. Clear for much of the last quarter, A Farmboys Success saw his lead diminish rapidly late as Happy Trio extricated himself from a bad shuffle and swept wide, but his late surge came up a neck shy. A Farmboys Success is owned by trainer Ron Burke’s Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.
In the second trot, the Muscle Massive mare Striking Volo completed a sweep of new lifetime marks in the features, when she reported home first in 1:57.1. Anthony Napolitano got away last with the winner, but had her moving at the quarter and she gained with every stride thereafter, grinding to a confident neck win over Celebrity Apollo for trainer Jody Riedel and Super Mile LLC as the only successful favourite in the tri-features.
The top contest for older performers was a $14,000 pace for mares, which saw Juslikeaqueen never see the rail, be three-wide at two points, and still rally to defeat Shady Stella by a neck in 1:51.3. Driver Simon Allard got a second-over trip behind a wild pace and was able to rally the daughter of Palone Ranger to a gritty victory for trainer-owner Antonia Storer.
(with files from PHHA/Pocono)