A dominant force during her two- and three-year-old seasons, Whiskey Lou appears to be regaining some of that form as a four-year-old.
The biggest purse up for grab on Saturday, Aug. 2 at Pocono Downs was a $23,611 bounty contested by developing trotters and taken by Whiskey Lou, a Lous Legacy mare who was a dominant force in Illinois at two and three and who seems to be coming back around right now. Ridge Warren utilized the rail well to put everybody in behind and got soft fractions of :28.3, :57.4, and 1:26.3, then coaxed :27.2 speed out of the favoured distaff late to hold off pocket horse Super Duper Cooper (George Napolitano, Jr.) in the Pocono Pike, winning by a neck in 1:54. Todd Warren conditions the talented trotter for Randy Will.
Pacesetter Racing Rampage made the lead past a :26.1 initial fraction then put up tough splits of :54, and 1:21 in the $22,917 fast-class pace. He was just caught by first-over Congressional (Kevin Wallis) by a head in 1:48.3, but subsequently was elevated to first place when Congressional was found guilty of first-turn interference. Under the rules, Racing Rampage, a Racing Hill gelding with $645,689 in earnings, gets credit for the new lifetime mark of 1:48.3 for driver Warren, trainer Travis Alexander, and owners Darren Dowler and Lawrence Bettler.
Two-year-old colt pacers will contest their second preliminaries in their respective Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and Pennsylvania Stallion Series during the Sunday night card at Pocono, which starts at 6 p.m. Pocono’s biggest day of the year, the $2 million-plus USDSun Stakes Saturday for top three-year-olds and invitational horses, is being worked on constantly as its 2025 edition on Saturday, Aug. 16 approaches.
(with files from PHHA / Pocono)