Driver Tim Tetrick swept the two divisions of the $135,032 third preliminary for the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes (PASS) for three-year-old pacing fillies during the Sunday (June 26) card at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, taking both sections with daughters of Captaintreacherous.
Tetrick won the first with (inter)national divisional leader Treacherous Dragon, and then with Captain Cowgirl in the faster cut.
Treacherous Dragon had anything but an easy time negotiating traffic in her division, avoiding an early mix-up caused by a horse who made an equipment break before a :26.4 quarter. She tucked in third as Dont Fence Me In, who got around the trouble with the lead, and Lydeo, who was left parked, argued through middle panels of :56.3 and 1:23.3. Tetrick edged his filly out at the three-quarters, but ducked back inside on the far turn as the pocket-sitter gave way, attacking Dont Fence Me In in the Pocono Pike and getting the job done by three-quarters of a length in 1:51.2 with a sharp last sixteenth.
Treacherous Dragon was thus successful in her debut under the care of Nancy Takter, and kept her record unblemished season's record in six starts, including two Sire Stakes. She has earnings of $560,613 for owners Hot Lead Farms LLC.
Tetrick took an easier route in the other section with Captain Cowgirl, going up past the :26.4 quarter to take command and putting up mid-splits of :55.1 and 1:22.2 over a track which greatly favoured speed. Queen Of Success, who went off the 4-5 favourite to Captain Cowgirl’s 6-5, came out at headstretch and cut into the winner’s margin, but Captain Cowgirl maintained a head advantage at the finish in 1:50.2.
Captain Cowgirl has two wins in three 2022 starts; her other victory came in 1:49.3 in a Sire Stakes at The Meadows. Jim King Jr. conditions the fleet filly, who has earned $323,835, for Jo Ann Looney-King and Kenneth Frieder.
Captaintreacherous and Sweet Lou split the siring honours in four $20,000 divisions of The Stallion Series, with Team Tetrick/King having the fastest winner in the Sweet Lou miss Lyons Serenity, dropping from the PASS to The Stallion Series and liking the competition level better. She set fractions of :26.3, got a breather to the half in :56, then tripped the timer in 1:23.1 and then a lifetime best of 1:50.4 while defeating game pocket horse San Antonio Stroll by three-quarters of a length for Threelyonsracing.
The other Sweet Lou success was Heartbreak Hotel, who after getting the lead in a :27.1 opener got to loaf to the half in :57.2. The speed sharpened after that, and Heartbreak Hotel came home in :55.2, :27.1 to complete the 1:52.4 mile a length ahead of Lock Bridge. David Miller drove the winner, now victorious in half of her eight seasonal starts including two Stallion Series successes, for trainer "Nifty" Norman and the partnership of Let It Ride Stables Inc. and Bottom Line Racing LLC.
The McCarthy brothers won with the two victorious daughters of Captaintreacherous, the faster of which was Madeira Hanover, who front-stepped to a mark of 1:51.2 for Todd McCarthy. Fractions of :27, :56.1 and 1:23.3 were the springboard for the Linda Toscano trainee, who now has two Stallion Series wins and a Sire Stakes second after a 1-3/4-length score over Galleria Hanover for South Mountain Stables, Little E LLC, Mark Mullen, and JAF Racing LLC.
Andrew McCarthy was in the sulky for Southwind Java, who used the evening’s preferred speedy tactics and hung up numbers of :26.3, :55.4 and 1:23.4 before lowering her own lifetime best to 1:52.1 while holding off the inside charge of favourite Sweet Kisses by a head. Southwind Java is trained by Mark Harder, who is also a co-owner with Dean Lockhart, Wayne Carleton, and Deena Rachel Frost.
Racing continues at The Downs on Monday (June 27) and Tuesday (June 28), with first post each day at 1:30 p.m. (EDT). Program pages for Sunday’s Pocono card are or will be available at the PHHA website.
(PHHA / Pocono)