Crazy Cute wins blanket finish in Pocono feature
September 19, 2021,Wilkes-Barre, PA — In a competitive $24,000 featured pace for mares Sunday at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono – so competitive that, in a five-horse field, nobody finished worse than a dead heat for fourth – Crazy Cute won for the second time in three starts in this company, pacing her mile in 1:52.
The Art Major mare may have won the race when she strung favorite April Ava out to get the lead before the :27 quarter. April Ava set middle fractions of :56 and 1:24.3, with Bye Bye Felicia a hounding first-over presence. In the stretch, the track’s leading driver George Napolitano Jr. was able to direct Crazy Cute to the Pocono Pike and go on to a head victory over a game Bye Bye Felicia, with April Ava only a neck away from repeating. American Delight N, from second-over, and Pansy’s Image, who sat in and had no clearance in the lane, tied for fourth, another 1-1/2 lengths back.
Trainer Gilbert Garcia-Herrera shares ownership of the winner of $251,915 with Barbara Arnstine. Garcia-Herrera went on to sweep the late double by winning with Keystone Steam, driven by Jim Marohn Jr.
Matt Kakaley had four wins on the card; 21-year-old Braxten Boyd brought three horses home first.
Younger horses will be featured in a trio of $13,000 contests on Pocono’s Monday (Sept. 20) card; post time is 12:30 p.m. Program pages are available at the PHHA website.