Three $20,270 features for developing youngsters topped the Tuesday, Sept. 10 afternoon action at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania. Matt Kakaley, Pocono’s leading driver, accounted for the two highlight divisions for males, both winning by 4-1/2 lengths, and he almost won the third, having to settle for six winners at Pocono before heading to Yonkers Raceway.
The Captaintreacherous gelding Sudden Impact, a full brother to world champion Tall Drink Hanover, has now taken three of his last four outings, in this event for pacing males setting a new mark of 1:50.1 for Kalaley, trainer Scott Di Domenico and the ownership of Triple D Stables Inc., and Michael Rekoon. Crush Kill Destroy, second to top sophomore Njinsky two starts back, was the favourite despite the outside post, and he was used hard past a :26.4 opener to get the top, going to the half in :55.2, and then not able to stall the first-over bid of Sudden Impact, which carried the three-year-old to the lead nearing the 1:23 three-quarters and only grew longer the rest of the way. (Sudden Impact also paid the biggest price -- $10.40 – on a chalk-strewn day.)
The partnership of Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi, FAC Racing and Yannick Gingras looks like they found themselves a good trotter, as the International Moni sophomore gelding Dejerate Hanover won for them at first asking after a recent purchase. The three-year-old combines pedigree (his second dam D Train was also the dam of Donato Hanover) with finding top form at a good time, having shaken off earlier gait problems. Dejerate Hanover now won five in a row, this one in hand for trainer Ron Burke and Kakaley, who put him on the lead after the :29.1 quarter and set further fractions of :57.4 and 1:26.1, finishing on his own in 1:54.2 to take the top trot.
Kakaley gave the feature triple his best shot with Fight Not Flight, moving to the lead after a :27.3 initial fraction and then posting mid-times of :56.2 and 1:24.2 in the top contest for pacing distaffs. By the latter station, Bellucci had come a long way on an uncovered bid to challenge, and in the stretch Fight Not Flight tried to hold on, but Bellucci went by for a half-length victory while equalling her mark of 1:52. The winner completed a sweep of the pacing features for sire Captaintreacherous (her dam was the millionaire Agent Q), with the sophomore adding her fifth victory in her last seven starts for driver Anthony Napolitano, trainer Joe Bongiorno and the ownership of One Legend Stable Inc., and Howard Taylor.
Pocono will now be dark for live racing until a week from Tuesday, Sept. 17, to stage its annual Oktoberfest celebration.
(PHHA / Pocono)