Aroda N, coming to Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania via Yonkers Raceway and Tioga Downs, adapted immediately to Keystone state soil, coming off of cover to lower his mark to 1:51.1 in the $25,694 fast-class pacing conditioned feature on Saturday, Aug. 29.
None Bettor A pushed Big Bang Bang (Brett Beckwith) before letting him go past the :26.3 opener. Big Bang Bang still had the lead by the :55.2 half, with Be Dazzled Lou A (Anthony Napolitano) pulling from third to go first-over, with Goliath Hanover (Matt Kakaley) and Aroda N towing along up behind him.
Be Dazzled Lou A had cleared the pacesetter by the 1:23.2 three-quarters, and the first-over was not staying with him as he opened up a sizable margin by headstretch. But Braxten Boyd swung Aroda N three-wide for the stretch drive, and the son of Art Major-Adore To Our Dreams methodically cut into Be Dazzled Lou A's lead, going by him by a head at the finish. Boom N (Tyler Buter) finished third. Shane Tritton conditions the winner for Joshua Graber. The seven-year-old stallion is now 20-for-78 lifetime. He paid $5.60 to win.
In a $21,918 conditioned sub-feature for the fast-class pacing set, the nine-year-old So Surreal-Sugarcoated gelding Splash Brother ($28.20) showed his win at 15-1 a level lower last out was no fluke, handling the class hike easily with a 1:49.3 triumph at 13-1. Braxten Boyd also had the drive behind this sub-feature winner, now with $976,982 in lifetime earnings, who made two aggressive frontward moves in opening numbers of :26.3 and :54.3, opened up at the 1:21.3 three-quarters, and stayed clear for trainer Ray Schnittker, who shares ownership with Nolamaura Racing LLC, Steven Arnold and Tammy Flannery.
The Bar Hopping-Perfect Chance sophomore filly Ginger Tree Lex ($5.20), the winner of her 2025 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes (PASS) Championship, showed herself ready to defend her title a week from Sunday at Philly by winning a $23,973 conditioned trot for younger performers. The filly advanced uncovered down the backstretch for Matt Kakaley, got to retuck in the pocket on the far turn, then kept coming up the inside and easily caught pacesetting favourite Night Phantom (Anthony Napolitano) while matching her career mark of 1:53.4, which she posted when winning her PASS Championship and establishing a PASS final divisional mark. Steve Cook trains the filly for Sam Beegle, Ginger Tree Ventures LLC, Knollview Stable 2, and Bob Reber Jr.
Braxten Boyd had four successful drives to lead the horsepeople's colony on the 12-race card. His fellow member of “Team BB” as the last two Rising Star Award winners, Brett Beckwith, triumphed twice, as did driver Anthony Napolitano and trainer Darren Taneyhill.
Racing resumes at Pocono on Monday at 1 p.m. There will be two $27,500 USD featured Winners Overs, one for trotters and one for pacing distaffs. A week from Monday, Pocono will host the $1.4 million USD PASS Championship card for two-year-olds.
(PHHA/Pocono)