Wilkes-Barre, PA — On a speed-favoring Tuesday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, the freshman Always B Miki-Gigi From Fiji filly Gigi N Miki went wire-to-wire in the biggest purse event of the day, a $16,000 event restricted to 2-year-old pacing misses, kicking home in :28 to break her maiden in 1:55.1.
Driver Jim Pantaleano and the Mike Deters trainee made a second move to control the throttle after a :29 quarter, landing the top and cutting out moderate middle splits of :58 and 1:27.1. Favored Philly’s Sting advanced uncovered from midway up the backstretch, and these two had quite a tussle through the stretch drive, with Gigi N Miki holding off her brave foe by the smallest possible margin for the partnership of Deters, Lawrence Barrett, Joel Warner and John Spindler.
A quartet of $14,500 races for horses looking to climb the class ladder were the co-features, with the only pace, for distaffs, showcasing the Bulldog Hanover sophomore filly She’s A Bulldog as she won in a lifetime best 1:50.1 for Pocono’s top duo of driver Tyler Buter and trainer Ron Burke. The 2025 Three Diamonds winner after finishing second to stablemate Loua Dipa in the Breeders Crown, She’s a Bulldog made the lead from the outside post 8 after being pushed by American Story almost to the :27.1 quarter, paced middle splits of :55 and 1:22.4, then held off the game pocket sitter by 1-1/4 lengths for owner Brad Grant, raising her earnings to $427,679 with her third lifetime victory.
The faster co-feature for trotting males saw the 3-year-old Tactical Landing gelding Southwind Fargo win his second straight race and third in his last four outings, putting up fractions of :27.4, :56, and 1:25 en route to a 1:53 triumph for trainer/driver Åke Svanstedt and owner Rivers Stable Inc. In the other section, El Orion, a sophomore Six Pack colt coming off two wins and a second at Tioga, brought his good form southward, winning a long stretch battle with favored Breakthrough under the guidance of Braxten Boyd while lowering his mark to 1:56.3 for trainer Bob Krivelin and his Hero Stables.
The other co-feature was carded for female trotters, and it went to the Walner sophomore R Candy, who came her back half in :57 uncovered to succeed in 1:54.3 for driver George Napolitano Jr., trainer Linda Toscano, and lessees M&L DE/Armitage Farm.
Buter and Napolitano each had three victories on the day, and between them they brought home trainer Dean Eckley’s three-bagger – two by Buter and one by Napolitano. Other doublers included the team of driver Simon Allard and trainer Mark Akins, as well as reinsmen Braxten Boyd and Anthony Napolitano.
Racing at Pocono resumes on Saturday (Aug. 8) at 1 p.m., with millionaire speedsters Dandy Ideal and Ruthless Hanover assigned the two outermost starting slots in the $29,500 fast-class handicap pacing feature. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.