T C I became the first male trotter in the 31-year history of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes to win his divisional championship at ages two and three, purposefully marching to the front in front of the stands and then maintaining his lead to the wire in the finale, like the other championships for three-year-olds on Monday at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania worth $340,541.
David Miller, the only doubling driver in the PASS Championships this year, sat outside mid-pack early with the Cantab Hall colt, then rushed up to challenge leader Blackhawk Hanover past a :27.3 quarter. He made the lead under the wire the first time, reached the half in :57.2 and the three-quarters in 1:24.4, then appeared to draw off at will late in 1:53, finishing three lengths to the good of Usain Hanover, who nosed out Blackhawk Zette for second.
A record money winner at two with overall earnings of over $1.4 million in earnings, O'Brien Award winner T C I led the Sire Stakes in prelim points and took his championship. This season, he won both of his Sires prelim appearances, then came back to win the big money as a big favourite for trainer Ron Burke and owners Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi, Hatfield Stables and Knox Services Inc.
His division’s consolation race, like the others worth $67,568, was won authoritatively by the Father Patrick gelding Memorynimagination, taking a new mark of 1:55 for driver Anthony MacDonald, trainer Tim Twaddle and the partnership of Thestable Memrynimaginatn (no misspelling) and Hutchison Harness LLC.
David Miller’s other Sire Stakes championship came behind Elista Hanover, with the International Moni miss coming back to the track where she started her 10-race win streak earlier this year and making the most of her return with a 1:52.3 win for trainer Annie Stoebe, co-owner with R. Lynn and Philomena Curry.
The field was tightly packed through opening fractions of :26.4 and :56 before second-choice Paulina Hanover (Tim Tetrick) broke free with a sweeping three-wide move to the lead just after three-quarters of 1:24.1. Elista Hanover followed that move before setting her sights on the leader turning for home, surging in the lane to track down Paulina Hanover by a half length on the wire. She Shaq (Ake Svanstedt) finished third at 50-1.
In this group’s consolation, the driver Braxten Boyd and trainer Don Wiest with the biggest age disparity around (Boyd is 24, Wiest will be 94 on Oct. 1), again teamed successfully with the Andover Hall filly Tuis Angel, here in 1:54.3 for the ownership of trainer Wiest, his son David, Pamela Kimmel and James Rappold.
It was thought that pacer Captain Albano might accomplish a feat of even bigger merit than T C I – become the first male of either gait to be a divisional point leader and then a championship winner at both two and three. Last year’s Dan Patch Award winner looked to be authoring such a script, brushing after a :25.4 quarter to the lead before the half of :54.2.
Meanwhile, Pocono’s leading driver Matt Kakaley came streaking uncovered from seventh with the Sweet Lou gelding Sweet Beach Life, with no one pulling out in front of him, to be head-bobbing for second at a 1:22.1 three-quarters and still advancing. Captain Albano still looked in good position approaching mid-turn before the overwhelming favourite made an unexpected break on the last turn. Sweet Beach Life zoomed by and kept on going, winning by five lengths in a lifetime best 1:50 for trainer Travis Alexander and A Sweet Beach Life Stable.
The collective stunned silence soon turned to cries of surprise after the prices were posted. Sweet Beach Life: $101, $76.80, $76.60; Rush In (84-1): $280.80 and $169; third place Solid Character: $29.60. The $2 exacta paid $5,078.80; the 50-cent Trifecta paid $3,036.10 for the reduced investment; and the Superfecta with fourth-place Timeisonmyside resulted in a carryover.
A bit less surprising of a winner was 9-2 shot Armada Hanover, a Stay Hungry gelding who came from the pocket to pass favoured Vengeance Blue Chip by a head in 1:49.3 while taking the group’s consolation for driver Tim Tetrick, trainer Brett Pelling and owners David McDuffee, Rojan Stables and Pelling Racing.
My Girl EJ, another offspring of Sweet Lou and right at the top level of her pacing filly class through her brief racing career, bounced back from a second in last year’s PASS championship with a 1:49.2 victory, starting trainer Ron Burke on a consecutive double that was completed by T C I. The powerful filly also raised her lifetime earnings to $1,182,188 for Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi, Ron Burke (as an owner) and Elizabeth Novak.
Dexter Dunn kept My Girl EJ in third behind pacesetter Dandys Mercy and pocket-sitter Sweet Gal behind early splits of :26.4 and :54.3, then moved to challenge late on the backstretch, before the 1:21.1 three-quarters split. With the leader holding firmly and the two-holer threatening in the Pocono Pike, the favoured winner had to be good, and she showed her class late to win by a length over Dandys Mercy, with Sweet Gal just another neck back in third.
This group’s consolation winner was also sired by Sweet Lou. The 1-5 favourite, Sarasota Hanover, moved early to the top and won as expected, pacing in 1:50.4 for driver Scott Zeron, trainer Linda Toscano and Jablonsky Held Stable, Camelot Stable, John Fodera and South Mountain Stables.
Pocono will race Tuesday at 1 p.m., then be dark the following Saturday and Monday for an Oktoberfest celebration; the next racing will be a week from Tuesday, Sept. 17.
(PHHA / Pocono Downs)