by James Beviglia, for Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs

Wilkes-Barre, PA — I’m The Answer set a new track record on Saturday night (June 18) at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs for 3-year-old geldings on the trot while winning one of three eliminations for the inaugural Earl Beal Jr. Memorial Trot. The Beal Memorial final for 3-year-old Open trotters will be held next Saturday night (June 25) at Pocono and carries a purse of $500,000.

On Saturday night, there were three $25,000 elimination races held for the stakes race. The top three in the official order of finish in each race advanced to the big-money final.

I’m The Answer did his damage in the very first split for trainer/driver Trond Smedshammer, who sent the gelding to the front end at the three-eighths-mile marker. He wasn’t seriously challenged from that point, crossing the line 4-1/2 lengths the best in 1:52.4. That shattered the previous Pocono mark for sophomore geldings on the trot of 1:53.3, set by Shermans Mountain in 2009. Opening Night (Tyler Buter, Jim Campbell) finished second and Buffalino Hanover (Todd Schadel driver and trainer) picked up third to punch their tickets to the final.

In the third and final elimination later in the night, Smedshammer was at it again, this time guiding Dejarmbro to a come-from-behind win. The colt sat off the sizzling fractions early and began making his move on the backstretch. Leader Charlie De Vie went on a break on the final turn, allowing the hotly-pursuing Dejarmbro to take over and win by 2-3/4 lengths in 1:52.4. Other finalists from the race include second-place finisher Bambino Hall (George Napolitano, Jr., Kelly O’Donnell) and Leader Of The Gang (Ron Pierce, Jimmy Takter), who picked up the show.

In between Smedshammer’s successes, Pastor Stephen, a powerhouse from the barn of Jimmy Takter, staked his claim as the one to beat for next week’s final. With Ron Pierce on the bike, Pastor Stephen glided first-over past all of his foes to win by three lengths in 1:53.1. Also making the final from that split were Broad Bahn (George Brennan, Noel Daley) and Big Rigs (George Napolitano, Jr., Kelly O’Donnell), who finished second and third, respectively.