Wilkes-Barre, PA – The royally-bred (Father Patrick – Shake It Cerry) two-year-old trotting filly Mon Cheval lived up to her pedigree by winning the faster division of the third preliminary in her Pennsylvania Sire Stakes group with a 1:54.4 victory on Monday (Aug. 16) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.

Mon Cheval won the faster division of the third preliminary in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes today a The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. Curtis Salonick photo.

Mon Cheval won a Pennsylvania All-Stars division here in 1:54.3 first purse start, then had a bit of difficulty coping with post ten and then post nine in her Doherty Memorial events. Making her first PaSS start and her first start since the Doherty, the filly was ready to go for trainer Nancy Takter and driver Dexter Dunn, moving to the lead past a :27.3 opener, leading past splits of :57.1 and 1:25.3, and then trotting home unchallenged, portending a bright future for her and the ownership of Solveig’s Racing Partners.

The other division went to the Åke Svanstedt trainee at the end of the starting gate — but while before the race most thought that would be the rail horse, Baptism, first and second in her previous PaSS engagements, it turned out to be the filly at the outside end of the gate, the Southwind Frank – Ebbside Hall distaff Ebbies Lady, who won while breaking her maiden in 1:55.2. Svanstedt handled the driving assignment on this one as he is part-owner along with Young Guns, and he put the filly on the lead through fractions of :28.1, :58.3, and 1:26.3, then withstood her stablemate by 1-1/2 lengths.

Ebbies Lady picked up a 1-1/2 length victory to break her maiden this afternoon. Curtis Salonick photo.

There were four divisions of this group’s Stallion Series competition, with Dexter Dunn guiding the fastest winner in this competition as well, Born On Third Base, a Donato Hanover filly out of the talented Housethatruthbuilt. Born On Third Base is undefeated in four career starts, two of them StS contests, and here took a mark of 1:55.4 for trainer Chuck Sylvester and owner Steve Jones.

Donato Hanover picked up another credit when Design Fashion won her third straight, two in the Stallion Series, with a new mark of 1:56.4 for driver Matt Kakaley, trainer Jim Campbell, and Fashion Farms LLC. Father Patrick sired a winner at both levels of competition, as Shestheluckyone (dam Panana Republic) broke her maiden by open lengths in 1:58 for driver Simon Allard, trainer Mark Akins, and A 1 Racing. The other Stallion Series section also saw a maiden triumph, as the Andover Hall – Gillovny Hanover filly Newell Place won in 1:57 for driver Yannick Gingras, trainer John Calabrese, and Calabrese Farms LLC.

A trio of $15,300 features for horses at the uppermost level of the “nw x races life” condition will highlight Pocono’s Tuesday (Aug. 17) racing, with trotters in races nine and 12 and male pacers in race 10.

Program pages for Tuesday’s races, and for the Sun Stakes Saturday card, are or will be available at:  https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.