Wilkes-Barre, PA – As they had been over the last several days, the atmospheric conditions in the Mid-Atlantic on Monday (Sept. 28) afternoon were still far from favorable, and the horses and drivers who won the featured races at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania used off-the-pace tactics, aided by a stretch tailwind, to gain the major portion of the prizemoney.
The $18,500 fast-class trotting feature was won by the Walner mare (and aptly-named) Sapphirerainstar in 1:55. With his horse coming off breaks in her last two purse starts, driver Simon Allard opted for conservative inside tactics, but when space developed to move out on the final turn, the winner of $204,035 unleashed a giant :27.1 closing kick to catch the pacesetter Breezy Hall by three-quarters of a length. Breezy Hall is the winner’s stablemate in the Mark Akins barn, and is owned by Akins; Sapphirerainstar is owned by Akins and Allard’s A 1 Racing, which is how Simon wound up driving the winner.
Perhaps the best performance of the day, and perhaps the best performer overall, was the Papi Rob Hanover sophomore filly Say Goodnight, who missed just a neck to the star Miss Jum Jabber (at 64-1) in the recent PA Sire Stakes Championship and actually came home a hair faster than her from off her back. In the $15,500 co-feature class for distaff pacers, Say Goodnight sat the pocket behind the soft pace of Amira Hanover; entering the stretch, driver Tyler Buter briefly analyzed his inside prospects, then pulled Say Goodnight outside, and the fleet filly responded with an individual last quarter of :26.3 to catch the leader by a safe three quarters of a length. A PaSS champion at two (at 62-1), Say Goodnight now has a bankroll of $393,000 for trainer Nicholas Devita and owners David Hamm and Glenn Phillips.
There were two divisions of the co-feature for trotters. One went to one of the hottest trainers in Pennsylvania, whether at the pari-mutuels or fair, David Wiest; his pupil Cherokee Chief, a three-year-old International Moni gelding, advanced raw then stepped his final panel in :28.3 to defeat the horse following his cover, Peteza, by a neck, with Braxten Boyd doing the driving for owner Bimmie Strasser.
In the other trot co-feature, Skydiver made a brief break at the start, bounced back quickly, then benefitted from an overcooked pace to rally from sixth at headstretch and prevail in 1:55.3 (a brief inquiry showed no breaking violation). George Napolitano Jr. was in the sulky behind the son of Greenshoe for trainer Laura Angle and owners Howard and Joshua Kauffman.
In the ten races that were not the feature or co-features, Anthony Napolitano won half the time, triumphing from every imaginable spot on the racetrack, from first at the half to last at the half. “A Nap” also drove both winners for the only training doubler on the day, Pete Pellegrino; Simon Allard and Tyler Buter paraded back two winners apiece.
Three $16,000 features for developing two-year-olds will headline the Tuesday (Sept. 29) at 1 p.m. program, the last of the racing week at Pocono. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.