Father Patrick continued his domination of the two-year-old trotting class with a win in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action on Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.
There were four divisions of Sire Stakes held on the night for two-year-old colts and geldings on the trot, with purses ranging between $67,410 and $67,411.
Coming off a 10-length romp in the Peter Haughton at the Meadowlands, Father Patrick (Cantab Hall-Gaia Dream) was made the 1-9 favourite in the final Sire Stakes split of the night and didn’t disappoint. The colt from the Jimmy Takter barn made his move on the backstretch with driver Yannick Gingras to take the lead and coasted from there to a two and three-quarter length win in 1:56.4. Father Patrick now has wins in four of five lifetime races. SJs Encore was best of the rest in second while Shift Into Glide finished third.
In the first Sire Stakes split of the night, Exodus Hanover (Andover Hall-Exotic Destination) controlled matters on the front end as the 1-9 favourite for driver Andy Miller and rolled to a two and three-quarter length win in 1:57.2, which matched a career-best. The colt, trained by Steve Elliott, never had an anxious moment en route to his fifth consecutive victory. Keystone Wasabi finished second while Truxton was third.
Don Dorado (Donato Hanover-Quintessential K), a 3-5 favourite in the second division, went gate-to-wire for a dominating victory with Tim Tetrick in the bike, scoring in a career-best 1:56.2 by three and a half lengths. Trained by Bob Baggitt Jr., Don Dorado won for the second time in four career races. Explosive De Vie finished second while Amped Up Hanover settled for third.
In the third division, Ontario-owned Il Sogno Dream (Cantab Hall-Le Reve), the 9-2 second choice, overcame a horse breaking stride directly in front of him on the backstretch and rallied to upend 2-5 favourite Monte Cristo Spur by a half-length in 1:57.1 for a new career mark. Trained by Chris Beaver and driven by Ron Pierce, Il Sogno Dream picked up his second career win and atoned for a break of stride as a heavy favourite in his last start. Whitey Lauxmont finished third. Il Sogno Dream is owned by Bill Manes of Rockwood, Dan Manes of Erin, Leonard Christopher of Acton and Randy Michael Christopher of Rockwood.
(With files from Pocono Downs)