Wilkes-Barre, PA — The barn of trainer Per Engblom continues to be crackling hot as horses from his stable swept the $27,500 fast-class events on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 21) at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania.
First up was the Chapter Seven gelding Cecil Hanover, winning the top trot in 1:54 while boosting his lifetime earnings to $655,745. Matt Kakaley sat in third with the winner most of the way through fractions of :28.1, :57.2 and 1:26.2 before moving the Engblom trainee outside just before the far turn. Cecil Hanover went his own last quarter in :27.2 to win for fun for FAC Racing LLC, Yannick Gingras and Jaiden Gingras.
In the headlining pace, the Sweet Lou gelding Lou Hill, second to stablemate Pinny Tiger A in last week’s feature, improved on that finish by one with a 1:51.1 tally. Simon Allard got Lou Hill to the top in :27.2 then caught a breather with him to a :56.1 half; the pair then bolted home in :55 to withstand the inside rush of favored Catalpa Rescue A by a neck for owner Tom Hill.
The second preliminary round of the Game Of Claims Pacing Series, with Saturday seeing $27,500 base-tagged horses competing for $16,000, again drew five divisions – and now the series has generated 10 different winners. The fastest cut, 1:51.2, saw the Captaintreacherous gelding Simon Says Hanover use the Pocono Pike as his route to the winner’s circle for driver Colin Kelly and owner Ashley Bako.
The only Saturday series winner to be claimed was Supplemental Fee, who was claimed last week and will change barns again after a 1:52.1 second-round score. Other winners were Greatest Ending (1:52.4), Nineteenth Man A (1:53), and D A McDreamy (1:53).Eight horses were claimed from the second prelim, with the cash register ringing up sales of $220,000.
Brett Beckwith topped all drivers with three wins Saturday, with Tyler Buter and Ridge Warren each having two; Engblom was the only trainer with a multiple-win day.
Pocono is set to race next on Monday (Feb. 23) at 1 p.m., weather permitting. The next Pocono card will have a carryover of $3,948.64 in the early Pick-4, offered on the first four races of the card. Free Pocono program pages are available at www.phha.org.