from the PHHA/Pocono

Wilkes-Barre, PA — Pennsylvania-sired 3-year-old pacing fillies will have their last chance to earn points to get them into their rich championship races this Friday (Aug. 14) and Saturday (Aug. 15) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, with Stallion Series competition in two divisions on Friday and a like number of Sire Stakes gatherings on Saturday.

The freshman counterparts of these Stallion Series fillies raced here Tuesday, and astonishingly left town with 19 different winners in 19 different divisions of the first three rounds of prelims. Even more astounding, the parallel 2-year-old filly trot Stallion action at Harrah’s Philadelphia Thursday ended with 19 divisions, 19 winners in their three legs. But such is not the case among the 3-year-olds here Friday — indeed, Mezzazine Fashion would be halfway to history should she win.

The Well Said filly Mezzazine Fashion has won all three of her prelims to date, and no filly in any division has ever swept her prelims and gone on to win her Stallion Series championship. Mezzazine Fashion gets her chance to start on that road from post six Friday.

Just inside her will be Angel Plus, a two-time prelim winner (the other double winner, Dobre Povedane, is in the other Stallion section).

In Saturday’s $191,618 Sire Stakes event, Safe From Terror will be the only double prelim winner entered (the other, Serious Filly, did not drop in for the race). A daughter of Western Terror, Safe From Terror followed up on her most recent Sire Stake win, July 25 at The Meadows, by defeating fast older mares at the western PA track in 1:51.3 on Aug. 5, and she will be backed by trainer Ron Burke and driver Matt Kakaley as she starts from post five in the field of eight.

In the other Sires division, Burke/Kakaley have the Somebeachsomewhere filly Southwind Roulette starting from post seven in a nine-wide field. Last year Southwind Roulette set a Sire Stakes record for any division of pacer when she took down her championship and $269,248 in the state series alone, but this year she is winless in her campaign. She does have a second, third, and fourth in her previous Sires outings, and a win here could put her in good stead to make the final and defend her championship.

The $350,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship for 3-year-old pacing fillies will be held at Pocono on Saturday (Sept. 5) and a $60,000 consolation event is also penciled in. The championship for these Stallion Series fillies, worth $40,000, will be held at Harrah’s Philadelphia two days afterwards.

Saturday’s Pocono card also features a $30,000 Open Pace, with Musselsfrmbrussels and Malak Uswaad N, a nose apart in last week’s local feature, taking on Ideal Matters, who won two weeks ago here; Nova Artist, sporting three straight wins at Philly; and yet another Burke/Kakaley horse, Always At My Place, who won two at Hoosier, shipped to Yonkers, and promptly won two more to build a four-race skein coming to the mountains Saturday.