Alluneedisfaith N was hard-used to make the top in the $17,500 featured pace at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, but once there he established his superiority by winning handily in 1:51.1 on Saturday (June 19).
It was only 57 degrees in the mountains, but a :26.1 opening quarter could certainly be classified as hot, with the winning Art Major gelding needing past that point to clear an early battle for supremacy.
Alluneedisfaith N got to the half in :54.1, then actually got a third-quarter breather to a 1:23.1 checkpoint, with a headwind aiding that slowdown, enabling the leader to come home in :28 to win confidently.
George Napolitano Jr. was the driver behind the winner of $482,533, who now has won two of his last three for trainer Nik Drennan and the ownership of Robert Cooper Stables LLC and Jared Cooper.
In the $17,500 trotting contest, the Napolitano brothers tussled throughout the mile, with George and favoured Ambassador Hanover making the lead just past the :28 opener over Anthony and Macmorris Hanover, then going on to refuse Macmorris a retake, with that one tucking back in the pocket before the :56.2 half.
Ambassador got no breather fighting the first-over to a 1:25.2 three-quarters, and the breather Anthony could grab with his horse in the two-hole paid dividends in the stretch, where he regained the lead for good and held off Robbie Pev by a neck in a 1:54.4 mile.
Bob Baggitt Jr. trains the victorious altered son of Cantab Hall, the winner of $264,083, for the team of Howard Taylor, Ben Mudry, Douglas Millard, and Timothy Murray.
The Muscle Hill four-year-old Southwind Tyrion had gone 618 days between his last race (Oct. 9, 2020) and a start in a $17,000 trot. That last start, he set the world record for two-year-old trotting colts with a 1:51.1 victory at Lexington; here he was a going-away winner in 1:54 to start his comeback.
Sarah Svanstedt, with an .889 UDR this year, handled the winner of $289,297 for trainer/husband Åke Svanstedt, with Åke Svanstedt Inc. co-owner with S R F Stable, Knutsson Trotting Inc., and Brittany Farms & Riverview.
Matt Kakaley won five races on Saturday's card, again moving him close to perennial Pocono leader George Napolitano Jr., who had forged to the lead recently after Kakaley’s hot seasonal start.
Napolitano Jr., who won twice on the card, now has the thinnest of leads, 110-109, over Kakaley at the top.
Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and Stallion Series three-year-old trotting fillies will contest their third preliminary rounds during Sunday’s (June 19) 5 p.m. card. The four Sires winners to date – Dreamonhigh, Manon, Palermo Hanover, and Samosa – will all be looking to double their victory totals in the PaSS competition.
Program pages are available at the PHHA website.
(PHHA / Pocono)