Gatka Hanover knocks off unbeaten Speak To Me at Pocono
August 14, 2014,by Jim Beviglia, for Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs
Wilkes-Barre, PA — Gatka Hanover defeated previously unbeaten Speak To Me to highlight Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action on Wednesday night (Aug. 13) at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. There were four $67,347 Sire Stakes divisions held for 2-year-old trotting fillies.
Speak To Me came into her division having won her first four races in convincing fashion. But on Wednesday night, it was Gatka Hanover (Muscle Massive-Girlie Tough), trained by Ron Burke and driven by Matt Kakaley, who pounced from the pocket to defeat Speak To Me by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:56.1.
Gatka Hanover now has four wins in six lifetime starts, including three Sire Stakes victories without a loss.
The other Sire Stakes winners on Wednesday night at Pocono were Wild Honey (Cantab Hall-U Wanna Lindy), driven by Yannick Gingras and trained by Jimmy Takter, who won her third straight Sire Stakes race in 1:55, fastest stakes time of the night; Jersey Strong (Muscle Massive-Vacation’s Over), driven by Tim Tetrick and trained by Mark Harder, whose convincing win in 1:56.2 was her third in as many tries at the Pocono oval; and Sweet Thing (Chocolatier-Berdine Hanover), driven by Charlie Norris and trained by Homer Hochstetler, who worked hard on the front end to keep off all comers for her second Sire Stakes win in 1:56.