Two-year-old pacing fillies trained by Nancy Takter and Tony Alagna locked up for a solid stretch duel on Tuesday (July 14) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
In the tilt, Notorious Pink, from the Tony Alagna stable, made her debut a successful one by edging the Nancy Takter barn’s JK Alwaysbalady by a head in 1:53.4.
Tim Tetrick sent Notorious Pink (Captaintreacherous--Shes A Hot Mess) to the lead at the eighth pole around her favoured rival and reached the first station in a leisurely :29.3. Yannick Gingras decided to put JK Alwaysbalady (Always B Miki--JK Shesalady) on the lead in front of the stands, as he increased the tempo to :57.3 and left all but the pocketsitter in his wake.
The positions remained unchanged past the 1:26 three-quarters station and to headstretch, where Tetrick pulled Notorious Pink out and gained a head advantage by midstretch. But that’s all she would ever lead by, as the pacesetter dug in tenaciously, but was just outsprinted in the :27.4 dash home.
Notorious Pink is owned by Alagna Racing LLC, Steven Head, John Fodera, and Riverview Racing LLC.
A freshman son of Captaintreacherous went even faster later on the card, as Crunch Hanover (who is out of Code One Hanover) defeated Lindysalwaysthinkn in 1:53. Lindysalwaysthinkn didn’t surrender the lead when challenged early by the Crunch Hanover, so Scott Zeron took the pocket and waited to take another shot in the stretch. Nearing the wire, Crunch Hanover went on to take a half-length decision over the pacesetter for trainer Linda Toscano and the partnership of Enviro Stables, South Mountain Stables, R-And-I Farms, and Bay’s Stable.
Also in action on Tuesday at Pocono was the sophomore Kadabra filly P L Notsonice, who was coming in off of a second-place finish in an Ontario Sire Stakes Gold event. She made short work of her opposition on Tuesday while taking a new mark of 1:54. Driver Renaldo Morales III sent the Joe Skowyra-trained filly on a big move early and secured control of the throttle. P L Notsonice then raced unchallenged through a :56.3 back half and went on to win by nine and one-half lengths (P L Notsonice's four previous races had been decided by a nose, a head, and two necks). P L Notsonice, who finished third in the Peaceful Way final last year, is co-owned by Morales and Prince Lee Acres.
(With files from PHHA / Pocono)