from the PHHA/Pocono

Wilkes Barre, PA — Dress For Success and Classic Belisima finished preparations for their head-to-head clash in the $30,000 Bobby Weiss Series Championship for trotting females in a week, winning the two $15,000 divisions of the fourth and final preliminary leg Wednesday (April 15) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.

Dress For Success ran her record to 4-for-4 in the prelims with a three-quarter length victory over Fashion Zoomalot in the first section, with the final time of 1:54.3 a personal best. The Infinitif mare was driven by Matt Kakaley for trainer Christopher Freck and owners Stacey Ruddick and Denise Dennis.

Classic Belisima, who skipped last week’s third prelim, showed no ill effects from the time away, storming home in :57 to complete a 1-1/4 length triumph over Passing Jetta, the only other contestant in the two races with a Weiss victory, in 1:56. The victorious daughter of Crazed now boasts eighgt wins in 10 seasonal starts, including her last four in a row (to match the streak of Dress For Success), with David Miller again in the sulky Wednesday for trainer John Cabot and owner William Cantrell.

With the Weiss preliminaries now finished, the schedule for the $30,000 Championships is as follows: male pacers on Saturday, female pacers and male trotters next Tuesday, and as mentioned female trotters next Wednesday.