Amigo Volo and EL Ideal, a pair of winners of over $500,000 last year who had not yet regained their stellar form of the previous season, showed they are now headed in the right direction by easily winning their respective $95,367 divisions of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes (PASS) opening preliminary for three-year-old trotting males during the Sunday (July 26) card at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
Amigo Volo was not hustled early by driver Dexter Dunn, who came in from his 1:49.3 monster mile at Plainridge with Manchego. Working him to the top past the :27.4 quarter, Amigo Volo continued to lead to the half in :56.3. The gelding turned it up another notch to get to three-quarters in 1:24.2 and kept pouring it on to hit the wire in 1:52, a lifetime best and only two-fifths off the track and world record set by Pinkman.
Amigo Volo is quite familiar with world records, having set four of them in his freshman campaign for trainer "Nifty" Norman. The winner of $684,040 for owners Pinske Stables and David J. Miller now must consider his next move, with the Hambletonian eliminations slated for this Saturday (Aug. 1).
The Father Patrick colt EL Ideal headed a 1-2 sweep of the other division for trainer Åke Svanstedt when he posted a best of 1:53 in winning the other PASS section. Svanstedt, handling EL Ideal, played early give-and-go with barn-mate Swiss House Onfire past the :27.1 quarter, then posted middle splits of :56 and 1:24.1 before coming in to keep his stablemate easily at bay. The winner of $565,712 for Emp Invest Oy is not eligible for the Hambo.
The five $20,000 Stallion Series divisions for the sophomore trotting colts and geldings showed remarkable parity, with variance of final time ranging only from 1:54.4 and 1:55.1, and four of the five winners taking a lifetime mark.
The one who didn’t reduce his mark ironically missed by a fifth of a second the Pocono freshman trotting gelding record of 1:54.4 he set here last year. That would be the Winning Mister gelding Town Victor, who looped the field early under the guidance of Matt Kakaley, set the pace and then scooted away in the last quarter for his first victory of the year for trainer Rich Gillock, who co-owns the winner with Barbara Richardson.
Kakaley picked up a second Stallion Series win with the Father Patrick colt Cupid Hanover, who also took the short way around and earned himself a new mark of 1:54.4. Ron Burke conditions the three-year-old for Elite Trotting.
Father Patrick picked up a second Stallion Series siring credit with the gelding Solar, who has a shiny new mark of 1:55.1 after racing on the engine and holding off the closing Steel Schooner and Secular. Marcus Miller was in the sulky for trainer Erv Miller and the partnership of Ervin Miller Stable Inc., Sara Miller and John Koliopoulos.
The other Stallion Series wins were taken by sons of Explosive Matter. First was the colt Stickler Hanover (last year’s Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes champion), who handled the upgrade in company nicely, lowering his record to 1:54.4 as he has now won four of his last five for driver Brady Brown, trainer Steve Schoeffel, and owners Virginia and Kathy Schoeffel.
The gelding Arclight Hanover also matched the fastest Stallion Series time of 1:54.4, a lifetime best, as he cut the mile then held off the late thrust of S Class for driver Jason Bartlett and trainer Mark Harder, the latter co-owner with Deena Rachel Frost and Emma Pettersson.
(PHHA/Pocono)