Aside from Stone Hanover rallying to win the $15,700 featured fast-class pace in 1:50.2 on Saturday afternoon at Mohegan Sun Pocono, it was pretty much the “George and Darren Show” as driver George Napolitano Jr. and trainer Darren Taneyhill had huge days.
Breaking up the focus on those two was Stone Hanover, a son of Art Major who was rallied by driver Matt Kakaley for trainer Joe Pavia Jr., whose Joe Pavia Jr. Stable Inc. co-owns the winner with Dr. Bridgette Jablonsky, Steven Held, and John Whitig. Kakaley kept the pacer close to fractions of :26.3, :55.3, and 1:22.3, was able to find clearance on the far turn, angled wide in the lane and was along with a sharp late kick.
Other than that, George Napolitano Jr. and Darren Taneyhill were the story of the day, with The Downs’s top driver George coming home first six times, four of them for Darren, who harnessed five winners in all (the other was driven by George’s brother Anthony). George and Darren were successful with War N Munn, a son of Stonebridge Regal who was claimed for $24,000 last week and Saturday handled the jump to a $30,000 price tag in the high-level claiming handicap pace with aplomb in 1:50.4. War N Munn took a lot of air before making the top, but he still went on to draw away from his opposition for owner/trainer Taneyhill.
Taneyhill leapfrogged Ron Burke to second in the Pocono trainers standings, although a substantial way behind leader Gilbert Garcia-Herrera. There have been no records kept on the most winners a trainer has sent out in a day locally, but it is doubtful that on the richest card of a racing week that any trainer has posted a 7-5-2-0-.873 scorecard.
The record is known for most wins in one card for a driver at Pocono — “George Nap” got his picture taken 11 times on June 10, 2011, tying the one-card pari-mutuel record for sulky success set by his fellow Pennsylvanian wearing red and white, Dave Palone, at The Meadows in 2008. (What is not remembered by most, though, is that George actually crossed the wire first twelve times on that 2011 night – but one of the horses was offstride and placed for a lapped-on break!)
Program pages for Sunday card at Pocono, which begins at 5:00 p.m. and which features a $10,000 pace for distaff pacers, are available on the PHHA website.
(PHHA / Pocono)