Wilkes-Barre, PA — The heralded One Eight Hundred, so impressive in his 1:50.2 – 26.1 first-round win in the Bobby Weiss Series for three-year-old pacing males at The Downs at Mohegan Sun, took last week off but showed Saturday he had lost nothing by winning his section of the $17,500 third and final Weiss prelims. 

Josert Fonseca sent the colt to the top before a :26.2 quarter, then backed off fractions to :55.4 and 1:24.4. Unlike in his first win, which was his first seasonal start and where he looked to be given a quarter-mile finishing test, One Eight Hundred was under his own power through the wire, yet still came home in :27.1, a second faster than did the other two Weiss divisions on a day where the next fastest kicker was :27.4. The Somebeachsomewhere colt still looks like the colt to beat in next Saturday’s $40,000 Final for trainer Nancy Takter, also co-owner with Brixton Medical Inc.

Another son of Somebeachsomewhere, the gelding Coalition Hanover (Anthony Napolitano), won for the second time in the Weiss prelims, making a quick move early to go by favored Captain Sleaze (Marcus Miller) and holding his advantage the rest of the way while equaling his lifetime best of 1:52.2. The Chris Ryder trainee is in top form for the ownership of Ryder, Dexter Dunn, Peter Trebotica, and Barry Spak.

Another pupil of Ryder’s, Mad Man Hill (George Napolitano Jr.), the only horse to have a chance to win all three Weiss prelims (another double winner Straight Talk took the week off), was outpaced by the So Surreal gelding He’s A Snob (Mark MacDonald), who both broke his maiden and stamped his ticket to the final with a 1:53.2 victory. MacDonald, not wanting to let the “Mad Man” get his own way up front, brushed to command in front of the stands with the youngster and held sway to the wire for trainer Ray Schnittker, who is also co-owner with David Pepin and Julie Farlow.

 The unofficial top point winners in this division going into next Saturday’s Championship are Coalition Hanover and Mad Man Hill (tie); Trevor’s Ace; One Eight Hundred and Straight Talk (tie); He’s A Snob; Tarkio; Kyuquot and Stop Sharing (tie); with AE1 being Major Makover and AE2 Move The Line. The draw for the race will be held Monday.

In a $17,200 fast-class event, J M Mandamin was full of pace in sixth and last at the three-quarters, so Simon Allard tipped him four-wide past midturn, and the Mach Three gelding sustained a strong burst to catch pacesetting Groovy Joe by three-quarters of a length in 1:51.4. J M Mandamin, who took his lifetime mark of 1:50 here earlier this meet, is undefeated in three seasonal starts at the mountain oval for trainer Jennifer Bongiorno and owner Robert Weinstein.

Sunday’s Pocono card, which starts at 5 p.m., features three divisions of the final preliminary of the Weiss Series for sophomore male trotters, with the tenth race section finding the two two-time prelim winners, Top Me Off and Hoolie N Hector, going head-to-head. Program pages will be available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.