A fierce summer storm swept through northeast Pennsylvania just before the $23,288 featured pace at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania Tuesday (July 16) afternoon, causing a delay before the race. But when the feature field did come to the track, the Boston Red Rocks sophomore colt Boston Rocks showed no ill effects from being kept waiting, coming his last half in :54.4 to lower his mark to 1:51.4 despite the “sloppy” going.
Last year’s New York Sire Stakes champion went to the front for driver Jason Bartlett nearing the :27.3 quarter, and against a hard wind backed the half down to :57. The tempo picked up as the winner’s main rival Arbitrage Hanover, off a 51-day layoff, made an uncovered move to go at the leader to the 1:24.3 three-quarters, but around the far turn the first-over horse made a break, and Boston Rocks put in a :27.1 last quarter to win by 7-1/2 lengths. Mike Deters trains the winner of $465,999 for owners Rick Berks and Peter Blood.
The rain soon let up, but it had fallen so hard so fast that after only one more race the track was declared not safe for racing, wiping out the last three races of the day.
Back before the moisture came down, a pair of three-year-old pacers, the Captaintreacherous gelding Vengeance Blue Chip and the Stay Hungry filly Staying With Emily, won $20,548 co-features in the identical time of 1:52.
Both sophomores won by a nose – Vengeance Blue Chip just catching Dublin Dasher for driver George Napolitano Jr., trainer Joe Pavia Jr., and owners Vincent Ferriero Jr., John Whitig, Donald Kayser, and Pint Size Racing LLC, while Staying With Emily also used the pocket rocket route to tally for driver Tyler Buter, trainer Ron Burke, and owner Brad Grant.
Jim Pantaleano led the drivers with three wins on the abbreviated card, two for trainer Jill Roland.
Trotters will be featured on Saturday’s (July 20) 1 p.m. card in a pair of $17,000 USD features; for the Sunday (July 21) 6 p.m. program, the Pennsylvania-sired two-year-old pacing fillies will be out in force, with three Sire Stake sections and no fewer than seven Stallion Series cuts.
(PHHA / Pocono)