Another Saturday night, another world record comes under assault at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.
This time around, it was the mark for four-year-old trotting stallions on a five-eighth-mile oval that was obliterated by star trotter Uncle Peter in the Preferred Trot on Saturday night. The race carried a purse of $25,000.
Uncle Peter (Cantab Hall-Victory Treasure), who was fresh off a second-place finish in the Maxie Lee at Harrah’s Philadelphia, was made the 3-5 favourite from the No. 5 post in a nine-horse field. The four-year-old stallion from the Jimmy Takter barn got away mid-pack as the mare Tui set a scorching opening fraction of :26.3. Driver Jim Morrill Jr. set Uncle Peter in motion first-over on the front stretch and he had the lead before the clubhouse turn, hitting the half in :55.1.
On the backstretch, Uncle Peter gained separation and reached three-quarters in 1:22.4. Even with second-choice Undercover Strike sneaking up behind him into the pocket, the favourite had no trouble in the stretch, kicking away to win by four full lengths. Undercover Strike finished second while Keystone Thomas was third.
The winning time of 1:51.1 smashed the track record for four-year-old stallions on the trot of 1:52, set last May by Fox Valley Iliad. That mark was also the world record for the age group on any five-eighth-mile oval, which Fox Valley Iliad shared with Daylon Magician.
Uncle Peter, owned by Christina Takter, John Fielding, Jim Fielding, and Goran Falk, has been in the money in every one of his six starts this year with two wins. The victory was the 10th of his career and pushed his lifetime earnings to $771,527.
(With files from Pocono Downs)