Thunder Hunter Joe took a different route to victory in the $23,288 featured pace at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Tuesday, June 25.
The four-year-old Huntsville gelding usually prefers to come from off the pace. This time, though, Thunder Hunter Joe thundered to the front of the field and went wire-to-wire to win in 1:49.4.
A first quarter of :26 didn't slow Thunder Hunter Joe, as he continued on to splits of :55.1 and 1:22.2 and won by a comfortable three lengths. In the process, the gelding was raising his career earnings to $410,956 for owners David Hamm, Glenn Phillips and Christopher Giaccio. For the season, Thunder Hunter Joe improved to 2-1-1 in 11 starts, good for a bankroll of $41,080.
Thunder Hunter Joe’s driver, Braxten Boyd, led all Pocono horsemen on Tuesday with four winners.
There were a pair of $20,548 contests for developing horses in the co-feature slots. In the pacing event, Tellitlikeitis gelding Lovers Trouble recorded his second straight victory in 1:52.1 for driver Ridge Warren, trainer Jenn Bongiorno and owners JB Racing and Evans Nation. In the trotting race, driver Mattias Melander gradually worked the Greenshoe colt Luke The Spook up from mid-pack, proving to have the most late kick in 1:56 for his brother Marcus Melander, who trains the colt for AM Bloodstock Inc.
Racing resumes on Saturday, June 30 at 1 p.m., with the $25,000 USD Open Pace featured on the card. The field of six possesses an average lifetime mark of 1:48.2, so the 2024 Pocono track standard of 1:49.1 could well be in jeopardy. Sunday’s 6 p.m. card features the first stakes action of 2024 for two-year-olds, with three $30,000 USD divisions of the Pennsylvania All-Stars colt trot.
(With files from PHHA/Pocono Downs)