Pond Jumper, the only horse to enter the $11,200 featured trot on Monday (June 28) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono with the optional $20,000 claiming price, held off his opposition as the favourite in 1:56 on a hot day.
George Napolitano Jr. had the altered son of Honeycomb Hanover between horses early to grab the lead, then yielded to Conquest As and immediately moved to reclaim the lead. Pond Jumper maintained an advantage to the finish against several tough closers, with Explosive Breakaway — in his first starts since Jan. 11 — only a half length back on the far outside as the closest pursuer.
Pond Jumper won for the fourth time in his last seven starts and for the seventh time in 2021 with the year only half-over – in no previous season had he posted more than four victories. Darren Taneyhill trains the game trotter for owner Eric Prevost.
There were also three races set aside for two-year-olds on the card, and all three winners had hit the board in their debuts, then moved up to victory here in their second betting starts.
Trainer Ray Schnittker and driver Mark MacDonald took down both of the events for pacers. The division for males was taken by Etbauer, owned by Schnittker. He set the pace and held off a late charge by favoured What About David (in his bow) in 1:54.2. Etbauer is a colt by Captaintreacherous–Wild West Show, which makes him a three-quarters brother to the noted racehorse and budding sire Huntsville.
Huntsville happened to sire the winner of the baby filly division, Twenty Grand (out of the mare Up Front Katie Jo), gaining victory by racing up to the lead going past the grandstand the first time and going on to a 1:55 maiden score. Schnittker co-owns this one with Steven Arnold and Mark Ford.
In the contest for trotting males, Theresnolimit S (Nuncio–Whats Your Limit) also claimed command in front of the stands and came away a 1:56.4 winner. Mattias Melander drove the baby for trainer and brother Marcus and Stall TZ Inc.
There was a two-year-old trotting filly winning on the card — the Chapter Seven–Jewels In Hock miss Prasiolite. A winner in 1:59 in a purse race for her baby group last time, Prasiolite dropped back in, but that race did not fill, so a condition of “2YOs NW 2 races, draw inside” was added to a maiden event for older females. And Prasiolite mastered this group as well, lowering her mark to 1:57.2 for driver Tyler Buter, trainer John Butenschoen, and the partnership of Crawford Farms Racing, Mortgage Boys Stable, and James Crawford IV.
The newly-installed Tuesday “traditional” features, $15,300 contests for “NW 8 races,” expand to three for this Tuesday’s card: pacing distaffs in Race 8, pacing males in Race 10, and trotters in Race 13. Program pages for the 12:30 p.m. (EDT) card are available at the PHHA website.
(PHHA / Pocono)