from the PHHA/Pocono

Wilkes-Barre, PA — Jonsie Jones continued to hold the hot hand, as the flashy grey mare came north on the Pennsylvania Turnpike from Harrah’s Philadelphia and made her local return a winning one, taking Tuesday’s (May 31) $15,500 distaff feature at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono in 1:50.2 for a new lifetime mark at age nine.

Curtis Salonick photo

Jonsie Jones scored in a new lifetime mark of 1:50.2.

Jonsie Jones had risen from the bottom condition at Philly with three wins and three more board finishes. In her last start she drew post eight in a field that included Venus Delight, last year’s national older mare champion, and wound up eighth.

But she quickly returned to her solid ways in this gathering, going wire-to-wire from post four with fractions of :26.3, :55.1, and 1:22.3 in defeating second choice Aniston Seelster (8-5 to the winner’s 9-10) by 1-1/4 lengths.

The daughter of Tulane is trained by Amber Buter, her second win of the night, for owners LRL Racing LLC. Jonsie Jones brought driver George Napolitano Jr. back to Victory Lane for the fourth of his six winning drives on the night.

During the fifth race of the evening, Queen Of Denial, driven by Andrew McCarthy, was coming first-over near the three-quarter pole when she suddenly tripped and fell. The resulting chain reaction, in this order, saw Girllookatthatbody (Eric Carlson) hook a wheel trying to duck outside around the trouble, Life Is A Beach (Anthony Napolitano) going into the pileup, and She’s Heavenly (Pat Lachance) avoiding the brunt of the mishap trying to avert wide, but like the other three she was a DNF.

Anthony Napolitano, who had had two winners in the first four races, and Carlson were taken to local hospitals; there was no updated report on their conditions at press time. If any further details are received, they will be passed along.

McCarthy, with a stiffening back, took himself off his drives for the rest of the evening; Lachance drove later in the card.