The Tellitlikeitis gelding Red Power, recently joining the oversight of trainer Brian Malone and owner Peter Venturini, posted his third straight victory, and fifth of his career, with a 1:50.4 clocking in the pacing division of the twin $15,300 features Tuesday at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
Jim Marohn Jr. kept Red Power in third until late on the backstretch, moved him out and went quickly to the lead, and then roared home in :27.1 to win despite a layoff of 40 days.
This pacer doesn’t seem to take absences in the same way as others. Maybe it’s because he went 981 days between his first and second career triumphs.
Red Power won his third career start on July 12, 2018 at Hoosier Park, and continued his freshman campaign in the Indiana state program. He was away from the racetrack all of 2019 and almost all of 2020, going 805 days between charted lines, and got his second lifetime success on March 29 of this year. He had won his previous two starts at Scioto in early June, one in 1:50.1, before being purchased at the end of the month; it will be interesting to witness the fortunes of this fast performer.
In the trotting sector of the features, the Archangel gelding Angel Nation has now reported home first three times in a row after controlling the pace (via a difficult :27 dash to the top) en route to posting a 1:55.1 triumph over Baldaquin, a dedicated late closer who finally found room up the inside but still came up a half-length shy. Tyler Miller drove the winner for trainer/mother Julie and the ownership of Legendary Standardbred Farm and Ted MacDonnell.
Harness racing resumes at Pocono on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Featured will be two $35,000 divisions of the Pennsylvania All-Stars contest for two-year-old pacing fillies; one section will feature Hit Me Up, who won a recent Sire Stakes event, with the filly who finished second to her, Jazzed, heading the other cut. Program pages for the 12:30 card are available on the PHHA website.
(PHHA / Pocono)