Wilkes-Barre, PA – Max C. Hempt Memorial Pace winner Dandy Ideal came back to Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Saturday (Oct. 11), where he was installed the favorite in the $27,500 fast-class pace despite five older foes with career earnings of $4 million. In the end, a 3-year-old did win the race, but it was the Cattlewash colt Manolete who got the nod, pacing in 1:49.3 for three straight wins at the mountain track.
Manolete and driver Brett Beckwith were not afraid to take the bull by the horns, riding outside past a :26.2 quarter to make the top. Dandy Ideal got away third, and as the outer tier formed near the :55 half, the pacer who hadn’t had a race in 22 days after eight straight victories was kept to the inside.
Manolete handled the first-over challenge of Voukefalas to and past the 1:21.4 three-quarters, then braced for the closers. El Rey, who was in the pocket, went to the Pocono Pike and came within a neck of being the king of the day. Dandy Ideal tried to get through down on the cones, but he may have been in tight quarters and lost third to the closer I Did It Myway; that pair was just a length off at the finish. But nobody had the right answer today for Manolete, who himself has earned $474,675 for trainer Bruce Saunders and the ownership of M And L of Delaware LLC and M&M Harness Racing LLC.
Purses of $17,500 were on the line in two class-climbing events, one on each gait. The pacers were topped by the horses who sat 1-2 all the way around, as the Huntsville gelding Gretzky The Great defended the pocket behind sharp-leaving polesitter Jabbar and waited until the stretch. Then, in a clash of horses with sports names, the hockey player caught the basketball player in 1:50.4, making up ground in a :27.3 final quarter while winning by a neck. Simon Allard drove the winner, now two-for-two for trainer Darren Taneyhill and P T Stable.
The trotting division of the sub-feature resulted in a victory for the Bar Hopping sophomore gelding Honolulu Hanover, a winner in 1:56.3. The meet’s leading driver, Tyler Buter, waited just off the pace then sprang a big move on the far turn, causing favored pacesetter Camera Man to break, and thus gifted with the lead Honolulu Hanover defeated the horse caught behind the breaker, Te Amo Lindy, by 1-3/4 lengths. Scudo Hanover lost the photo for second. Pocono’s leading trainer, Ron Burke, conditions the winner for Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, William Switala, and James Martin.
The $16,000 handicap pace for the top-claiming pacers saw Spring Blake rally from way off the pace, holding off another late charger, Justasec N, by a neck in 1:52.4 for his third win in his last four trips behind the gate. Team Buter/Burke combined for the win, here for Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC and Phil Collura.
George Napolitano Jr. won the day’s last race to capture honors on the card with three wins; doublers included drivers Simon Allard, Brett Beckwith, Matt Kakaley, Anthony Napolitano, and Tyler Buter and the sole two-time winning trainer, Ron Burke (we have noted that Buter and Burke, the meet’s leaders, combined for their pair).
Monday’s 1 p.m. card will find the eight divisions of PA Fair Sire Stakes Championships going for an aggregate $200,000; the horse in the spotlight will be Lionheart Hanover, a trotter who would become only the second Standardbred to win his points title (from the summerlong races) and his Championship at both 2 and 3. There will also be a 1 p.m. card on Tuesday.
Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.